Thembinkosi Lorch continued from where he left off for Wydad AC at the FIFA Club World Cup when he became the third South African to score at the tournament.
Lorch was on the score sheet for Wydad Athletic Club but it was not enough as the Moroccan giants suffered a 4-1 loss to Italian giants Juventus at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday.
The on-loan Mamelodi Sundowns forward made his presence felt after just four minutes when he steadied himself and bent in a shot from the edge of the box towards the bottom left corner, but Michele Di Gregorio had it covered and made a comfortable save.
However, two minutes later, Wydad went down when ex-Sundowns defender Abdelmounaim Boutouil scored an own goal as he accidentally put a pass from one of the attacking players into his own net.
How did Lorch make his mark?
Ten minutes later, Juventus were celebrating a second goal when Andrea Cambiaso slid a pass towards Kenan Yildiz, who unleashed a fabulous shot from long range. The ball went behind the surprised goalkeeper and into the top right corner.
But in the 25th minute, Lorch put his name on the map when he reduced the arrears with a well-taken goal.
Nordin Amrabat found himself with the ball at his feet in space after a lightning counter attack, looked up and slid the ball to Lorch, who was on his bike, and the forward coolly slotted the ball past the keeper.
Lorch then almost turned provider when he bent the ball from a corner towards the goal and found Guilherme Ferreira almost on the goal line, but he somehow headed the ball over the bar.
The 31-year-old had another chance after the break as he tried his luck with a thunderbolt of a shot towards goal from long range, but his powerful strike went narrowly wide of the left post.
Juve’s class told in the second half
That was in the 68th minute and just a minute later, Randal Kolo Muani slipped the ball through to Kenan Yildiz and he darted into the box to unleash a magnificent shot into the bottom right corner to make it 3-1 for Juventus.
Lorch then also had a shot that went over the bar shortly before Cassius Mailula came on for Oussama Zemraoui 12 minutes from time.
With five minutes to go, Mailula opted to take a shot from mid-range after a rebound, but he failed to connect properly with the ball and the effort sailed harmlessly wide of the left post.
In time added on, Guilherme Ferreira handled the ball in the box, leading to a penalty, and substitute Dusan Vlahovic converted perfectly to complete the rout as Juventus all but sealed their place in the Round of 16 while leaving Wydad closer to elimination.
The Moroccan giants will now take on Al Ain on Thursday in their final match, seeking to bow out with a win.
