In the 15th minute, the referee had to make a big call when Mory Kante made a bad challenge on Rwanda captain Jacques Tuyisenge. The referee, initially, showed him a yellow card but on review by the VAR, he changed it to a red card leaving the National Elephants with 10 men.
Tuyisenge was also forced out with that reckless tackle and Ernest Sugira took his place.
In the 47th minute, the substitute had a massive chance to give his team a lead when the ball found its way to him. But with the goal at his mercy, he blasted wide.
Zambia then suffered a blow with 20 minutes played when they were reduced by one player after Zachariah Chilongoshi was sent off for a bad foul on Abdelilah Hafidi and it was 3-0 to Morocco in the 39th minute after captain Ayoub El Kaabi made no mistake from the penalty spot.
The Chipolopolo pulled a goal back courtesy of substitute Moses Phiri in the 79th minute but it was not enough to keep them in the competition.
Sredojevic has refused to blame the match referee for the red card and also the penalty but only blaming the exit on his players, whom he says were jittery in the first 10 minutes allowing the North African side to do the damage.
Defending champions Morocco see off Zambia to reach CHAN semi-finals nationalaccordnewspaper.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nationalaccordnewspaper.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Zambia coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic says his players were undone by a jittery first 10 minutes that led to two quick goals by Morocco in the Chan battle.