Pitso Mosimane has suffered his biggest defeat since taking over Al Ahly in Egypt, despite having Percy Tau and few other first-team players back in the starting line-up.
The South African coach, who is close to a contract extension with the ‘Club of the Century’, saw his side go down 3-0 to Smouha on Thursday.
It was Ahly’s heaviest defeat in 75 games since Mosimane took over and threw a big spanner in Ahly’s attempts of reaching the semi-finals of the newly-formed league cup.
Mosimane and Al Ahly had collected three 1-1 draws with mainly youthful XIs in the previous three Group B fixtures but the South African recalled the likes of Tau, Hussein El Shahat and Mohamed Magdy Afsha back into the starting XI.
Smouha, though, hurt Al Ahly, mainly on the counter, beating them by three unanswered goals.
The performance of his team will have Mosimane worried as today’s squad could be the one he will take to the FIFA Club World Cup, with only Ali Dieng still joining the group should the Egyptian national team reach the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations.
Overall, it was only Mosimane’s sixth defeat since taking charge of the club, but the first by a three-goal margin. He has won 53 games and drawn 16, while securing five trophies.
