Reporting Sports in a refreshing style

Ghana off to winning start in World Cup qualifiers

 

Ghana claimed a 1-0 victory over Ethiopia in their maiden 2022 Fifa World Cup qualification – Group G – match at the Cape Coast Stadium on Friday night.

The Black Stars will now travel to South Africa where they are scheduled to face Bafana Bafana in their second Group G game on Monday, while Walia Ibex are set to host Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

Walia Ibex sat back and invited pressure from the Black Stars – allowing the home side to control the match, but their chances were limited to long-range shots.

Mubarak Wakaso placed his effort from a free-kick over the crossbar, before Andre Ayew’s shot from distance was blocked inside the first 25 minutes of the game.

The Black Stars were forced to make a change when Jeffrey Schlupp went down injured and he was by Daniel Kyereh just before the half-hour mark.

However, the Crystal Palace star’s injury did not deter the home side and they managed to break the deadlock in the 35th minute through their long-range specialist, Wakaso.

The left-footed player unleashed an absolute screamer which hit the back of the net to hand Ghana a 1-0 lead with goalkeeper Balcha Shanko having misread the flight of the ball.

The score was 1-0 to Ghana during the half-time break courtesy of Wakaso’s 13th international goal for the Black Stars.

Ethiopia coach Wubetu Abate decided to pull out Shanko, who was to blame for the hosts’ goal, and the 23-year-old was replaced by Fasil Gebremichael prior to the start of the second-half.

Read Also: BREAKING: Super Eagles beat Liberia’s Lone Star in W/Cup qualifier

However, the Black Stars continued to dominate the match, but they were making many poor decisions in the final third and this allowed visitors’ defence to recover, and clear the lines.

Ghana coach Charles Akonnor introduced Yaw Yeboah, who tried to make an immediate impact with 18 minutes left, but the Poland-based winger’s effort was well-saved by Fasil Gebremichael.

The hosts then stood firm at the back in the latter stages of the encounter and ultimately, Ghana emerged 1-0 winners on the night.

You might also like

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.