Stars in quarter final berth

Ghana reached the knockout stage of the ongoing African Nations Championship after a hard fought 1-0 win over an enterprising Ethiopian side which put up impressive display of ball possession but failed to make it count.

Kwabena Adusei's well taken penalty  in the 75th minute provided the much needed victory and relief for Maxwell Konadu's side which were made to chase the ball for a greater part of the game but won the group after two victories and a draw.

The Ghanaians needed a draw to qualify but were determined to win the group to remain in Bloemfontein where they had enjoyed massive support from the local fans.

The Stars laboured and left it late to secure the needed win without being convincing in a match that saw the East Africans play an entertaining game but appeared tactically naive to punish the Ghanaians.

 Ghana started the game without the influential presence of midfielder Yahaya Mohammed, who was suspended from the match due to accumulated yellow cards, and injuries to defender Godfred Saka and Sulley Mohammed. Similar injury concerns forced Konadu's to start Theophilus Anobaah, Ghana's goal scorer in the 1-1draw with Libya, from the bench.

Clear scoring chances were few and far between for the Stars. The few chances that fell the way of Latif Salifu and Michael Akuffo were wasted while the Ethiopians stroke the ball around and drew their markers out of their positions in search for openings to score, but often they found Ghana's goalie Stephen Adams unyielding.

With the Ghanaians failing to hold on to possession, the Ethiopians grew in confidence with time and nearly took the lead in the 36th minute after a beautiful buildup that saw Omod Omod's header after an inswinger missing the target. 

Ghana continued to live dangerously as Mentsenot Umema forced goalkeeper Adams to made a decisive save in the 41st minute.

Coach Konadu's second half changes provided the needed cutting edge for the Ghanaian side which became more mobile and began to threaten their opponents, with the introduction of Asiedua Atobrah and Samuel Afful for Latis Salifu and Paul Asare respectively.

Bancey, who played on top of attack, nearly shot the Stars ahead in the 66th minute but saw his goal-bound header parried to corner by goalkeeper Jemal Bushra.

But the Asante Kotoko striker remained a thorn in the flesh of the Ethiopian defence, and earned Ghana the breakthrough in the 75th minute after he was tripped by his marker as he raced with the ball in the Ethiopians penalty box in an attempt to score. 

Egyptian referee Ghead Grisha rightly penalised the East Africans by awarding a spot kick to Ghana which Adusei picked his spot to score to earn the Stars victory and a quarter-final berth.