Miguel Cardoso’s honeymoon at Mamelodi Sundowns is over after the coach suffered his first defeat with the club.

Sundowns lost 1-0 to Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca in a dramatic Caf Champions League group B match at Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca on Saturday night.

The match produced three red cards, with two going in the way of Sundowns while the other went to a Raja player.

Before the game, the Portuguese-born mentor led the South African champions to four victories in the trot, including a 1-0 win over Raja in Pretoria.

Despite the defeat, Sundowns remain second in the group with five points from four matches. They are three points behind log leaders AS FAR with two games to play.

Raja are on four points while AS Maniema Union have managed three points.

Sundowns trailed by 1-0 at half time after the hosts found the back of the net on the stroke of interval.

Defender Benaissa Benamar scored for Raja during referee’s optional time, capitalising on a disorganised offside trap by the visitors.

Raja received a corner and played it short to Youssef Belammari who sent it into the box.

While most Sundowns defenders pushed up, star player Lucas Ribeiro was too late and allowed Benamar to beat goalkeeper Ronwen Williams at close range.

Sundowns had been dealt a blow a few minutes before the goal as Bathusi Aubaas was shown a straight red card for a terrible and reckless challenge on an opponent.

In the second half, the hosts continued to dominate and created more opportunities but a couple of them were saved by Williams.

The home side was also reduced to 10 men after Marouane Zila, who played off the bench, got sent off for a bad challenge on Teboho Mokoena with 10 minutes to play.

It was a little bit too late for Sundowns to stage any comeback in the match. Instead they had another man, Khuliso Mudau, being sent off on the stroke of full time.