Ghana get controversial win against Gambia
Ghana laboured for 95 minutes before defeating the Gambia 1-0 last Saturday to qualify for the group phase of the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations.
Advertisement
Vincent Atinga’s expertly taken spot kick gave the Black Stars B a slim victory and a possible embarrassment as they faced a gritty Gambian side who were unyielding until Maxwell Konadu’s side were rewarded with a controversial spot kick by Boukari Ouedraogo in added-on time.
The Black Stars B were heavily tipped to have a relatively easy payday against the Scorpions but paid dearly for wasting many scoring opportunities. In fact, the Stars had the chance to take an early lead but striker Kwame Kizito headed wide in the ninth minute.
The Scorpions nearly stunned Ghana minutes later after a defensive blunder and it took the timely intervention of Ghana goalie Joseph Addo to prevent his side from going down.
Another clear chance fell to Kizito in the 38th minute but the Hearts forward shot wide after receiving an excellent pass from Amos Frimpong.
IT appeared the Ghanaians were in a haste to score the opening goal of the tournament and missed their chances as they came. Late into the first half, Felix Addo also wasted another scoring chance after skillfully dribbling his way through the Gambian defence and with only their goal keeper Modou Jobe at his mercy.
Determined to strengthen his midfield Coach Konadu brought in Patrick Razak to replace Gideon Waja in the 54th minute but it did not help resolve Ghana’s scoring difficulties.
{loadmodule mod_banners,Nativead1}
It was not until deep into added-on time that Burkinabe referee gave Black Stars B a lifeline by rewarding them with a very contentious spot kick after a shot by Ghana forward Thomas Abbey was deemed to have hit the hand of Gambian defender Bun Sanneh amid protest from the Scorpions players and officials. Atinga stepped up and drilled home the resultant kick to give Ghana a slim victory and the home fans something to cheer.
Other Trending Stories
In a post-match reaction, Coach Konadu admitted “the match was a tough one” and made an appeal to the supporters to come to the stadium to support Ghana in the subsequent matches.