Mouhcine Iajour scored a 22-minute hat-trick as Moroccans Moghreb Tetouan thrashed Nigerians Kano Pillars 4-0 this weekend in the CAF Champions League.

He struck after 14, 27 and 35 minutes of the delayed last-32, first-leg match at Stade Saniat Rmel in northern Morocco and Zaid Krouch added a last-minute fourth goal.

The hat-trick makes 29-year-old Iajour the leading Champions League scorer this season with four goals, having got one in a dramatic preliminary-round triumph over Malians CO Bamako.

While Tetouan were favoured to win at home, even their most partisan supporters would not have dreamt that the success would be so convincing.

The Moroccans survived a preliminary-round scare by scoring three unanswered second-leg goals after losing 2-0 in Mali.

Pillars cruised to away and home victories over South Sudanese Al-Malakia in the previous round with Gambo Muhammed bagging three goals.

Muhammed missed the trip to Morocco as he is recovering from gunshot wounds sustained when Pillars were victims of armed robbers while travelling to a domestic fixture this month.

Pillars host the return match during the first weekend of April at Sani Abacha Stadium in northern city Kano.