Ghana’s Andre Ayew scored a lulu, but the Black Stars of Ghana could only manage a draw against Gabon on Friday, January 14 as Gabon’s Jim Allevinah scored late on 88th minute, in their second group game to earn a draw for Gabon, leaving Ghana with only one point after two games at the AFCON.
The Black Stars of Ghana went into Friday’s game at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, searching for their first win in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations after losing their first game to group leaders Morocco, but failed to protect their lead after starman Andre Ayew, gave Ghana the lead in the 18th minute with a smashing finish from outside the penalty box after receiving a pass from Thomas Partey.
Ghana looked to have relaxed the game after opening the score but allowing Gabon to see much of the ball has proved costly after 88 minutes. The Panthers should have equalized near half-time, but young goalkeeper Joojo Wollacott made a fine save from Athanase Bouanga’s free-kick.
After the recess, with Ghana leading 1-0, the two teams struggled to keep up the tempo, but Gabon looked the most threatening and likely to score as Ghana lie back trying to protect their one-goal lead through interventions by Amartey, Andy Yiadom, Baba Rahman and Baba Iddrisu in the course of the game.
However, with two minutes to full-time whistle, substitute Allevinah disposed of Amartey, sending a left-footed shot from just outside the 18-yard box, beating Wallacot in the Ghana post, to bring the scores to 1-1.
Ghana striker Benjamin Tetteh, who replaced Andre in the dying minutes of the game, appeared to have been involved with a Gabonese player, who went down. Algerian Referee Lahlou Benbraham after failing to persuade the Ghana team to bring back Tetteh to answer for the attack, showed the red card, though Tetteh had already left the field.
The result means Ghana, one of the giants in African football, is yet to come to the party at the AFCON and will now have to win their group’s last game against Comoros to stand a chance of qualifying to the knockout stages.
