Ghana produced two excellent halves of football to beat Benin 3-0 in the penultimate round of the Championship of Africans Nations 1st leg qualifier at the Cape Cast stadium on Sunday.
After minutes of delectable football, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh scored from the spot to give Ghana the advantage in the 25th minute.
A Beninese defender blocked an attempt from Evans Osei-Wusu with his hand inside the box which resulted in a penalty for Ghana – and that was brilliantly put away by Daniel Afriyie Barnieh for Ghana’s opening goal.
The Black Galaxies doubled their advantage four minutes into the second half through Mohammed Alhassan. The Hearts of defender smashed a rebound into the bottom right corner after the visitors failed to deal with a corner kick.
Benin goalkeeper Serge Obassa made a great save to deny Ghana a third goal as Osei-Wusu's effort from close range was parried away for a corner kick.
Ghana Captain Gladson Awako put the icing on the cake after he curled a lovely ball into the roof of the net for the third goal of the day. The former Ghana Premier League winner curled a sumptuous strike into the roof of the net from the inside of the box to beat goalkeeper Serge Obassa in post for the Squirrels.
Ghana Coach Annor Walker introduced Umar Bashiru, Dennis Korsah and Agyenim Boateng for Suraj Seidu, Evans Osei-Wusu and Captain Gladson Awako respectively. Umar Bashiru made the biggest impact in the second half as he took full control of the midfield much to the admiration of the crowed at the Cape Coast stadium.
The Black Galaxies kept a larger part of the ball to confuse their opponents as Annor Walkers’ men held on to win the 1st leg 3-0 in Ghana.
The 2nd leg of the fixture is schooled for Saturday, July 30, 2022 in Porto-Novo.
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