Ghana book semi-final spot

Ghana are just two wins away from a first African Nations Cup crown since 1982 after booking their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 extra-time win over Tunisia.

In a game that was often scrappy and marred by a number of arguments between both sets of players over alleged stray arms and elbows, it was Goran Stevanovic’s men who kept their cool and won through to a semi-final with Zambia thanks to Andre Ayew’s 101st-minute goal.

When that came it was a gift from Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi, who shelled Samuel Inkoom’s cross into the striker’s path.

Prior to that, John Mensah’s 10th-minute header for Ghana had been cancelled out by Saber Khelifa before half-time. But on weight of chances Ghana deserved to win, with their route to the finish line eased by Aymen Abdennour’s sending-off for an elbow on Ayew.

That incident, which came 18 minutes into extra time, caused the game to end on an unsavoury note – something which had looked unlikely when Mensah opened the scoring, heading in at the back post after Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu’s corner was flicked into his path by Kwadwo Asamoah.

Hosts Gabon suffered penalty shoot-out heartbreak as Mali prevented them from reaching a first African Nations Cup semi-final in Libreville.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed the only penalty of the shoot-out, which ended 5-4 to Mali, and the Gabon striker broke down in tears after Barcelona playmaker Seydou Keita netted the winning spot-kick for Mali.

It was cruel on Gabon who had been on the verge of progressing thanks to Eric Mouloungui’s 55th-minute opener only for Cheick Diabate to equalise with six minutes left in normal time.

Mali had Modibo Maiga sent off moments later but Gabon failed to make their one-man advantage count in extra-time before crashing out in the shoot-out.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Tags: Gabon, Gabon 1 – 1 Mali, Ghana, Ghana 2 – 1 Tunisia, Mali, Tunisia

Readers Comments (0)

Click here to cancel reply.

Name (required)

Email Address (required)