Chris Hughton’s first game in charge of Ghana’s national team ended in victory on Thursday night at the Baba Yara Stadium, as the Black Stars defeated Angola 1-0 in an African Cup of Nations qualifier for 2023.
Thanks to a late goal from substitute Antoine Semenyo, the West Africans now lead Group E by three points. Thomas Partey captained the team in place of captain Andre Ayew, who was left out of the match-day squad as a safety.
Lawrence Ati Zigi remained Ghana’s primary goalkeeper, despite having done so previously at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Mohamed Salisu did not play due to injury. Mohamed Kudus of Ajax who was the midfielder, had a chance to put the home team ahead in the 7th minute, but his shot from inside the box just missed the goal.
After a quarter-hour, Angola had a rare chance, but Amartey’s timely blocking saved Ghana’s defence. Midway through the first half, when Jordan Ayew appeared to have been fouled in the penalty area but the referee declined the penalty requests, the home crowd was left disappointed.
Hughton made a lot of changes to try to turn the game around. He brought in Joseph Paintsil, Osman Bukari, and Antoine Semenyo.
Neither team was able to score in the first half, and there were not many quality scoring opportunities. The second half began similarly to the first, but Ghana picked up the pace in the final 20 minutes.
Party and Semenyo linked up through the middle, but this time the Bournemouth forward’s attempt was wide. During the final kick of the game, Ghana scored the decisive goal. Ghana needs one more win to make it to the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast in 2023.
Ghana is in first place in the group with 7 points after three games, followed by Central African Republic with 3, Angola with 3, and Madagascar with 1 point.
Source – Tru News Report
