The slender result hands the Moroccan side the upper hand heading into the return in Casablanca.
From the off the game felt like a heavyweight scrap with both sides weighing each other. The first half swung by quickly with both sides struggling to create any real openings.
The match’s decisive swing, however, arrived almost immediately after the interval. Joseph Bakasu ghosted in to convert a teasing cross and put Wydad ahead in the 47th minute.
Bakasu was left unmarked at the far post and his strike proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Just moments after conceding, Kotoko’s afternoon unraveled further. The home side were reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Mohammed Camara was shown a red card after handling the ball outside the penalty box.
With the numerical advantage, Wydad were able to control possession, absorb pressure and force Kotoko to chase the game on a humid Accra afternoon.
Kotoko did not fold easily. Head coach Karim Zito shuffled his pack, introducing attacking options and demanding urgency from his men; substitutes pushed forward and the Porcupines fashioned a few half-chances.
A late Kotoko effort that found the net from close range but was flagged for offside, and at one point a goal-bound header was cleared off the line to keep the score at 1-0.
But Wydad defended with experience and composure, managing the clock and the game until the final whistle.
Speaking after the match, Kotoko coach Karim Zito refused to concede defeat, insisting his side still have every chance to turn the tie around in Morocco.
“The situation we find ourselves in is difficult but it isn’t impossible to come back. There’s still the second leg left to play,” he said.
The Porcupine Warriors have it all to do in the second leg in Morocco on October 24. Kotoko will need to overturn a one goal deficit or risk failing to reach the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup this season.
