AFCON 2023Q: Stars packed Ghana break tough Angola in injury time

It was the 96th minute of one of the most boring games in 2023, when the referee awarded a free kick to Ghana. Angola’s keeper managed to beat the ball away, but thanks to his clumsy teammates from defense, the ball came to Antoine Semenyo, who smashed it underneath the bar from 5 meters for the undeserved win in the AFCON qualifiers: Ghana – Angola 1-0. This was a game which the Black Stars should have won on papers, since they have a very strong squad, with quality players from the European Top 5 leagues, led by a Premier League coach Chris Hughton. In reality, they couldn’t break Angola and if it wasn’t for a terrible mistake by Kialonda Gaspar, the game would end 0-0, which would be a fair assessment of both teams. Ghana had the means but didn’t know how, while Angola maybe could have done something, but didn’t even tried. They came not to lose, but failed.Black Stars players pay final respect to Christian Atsu ❤️#RIPChristianAtsu 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/zFr5xVWDUv— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) March 21, 2023 To be totally fair to Ghana, the visitors are their biggest rival in the Group E, which also consists of Madagascar and Central African Republic. Angola coach Pedro Goncalves said before the game that his team will play to win, but it didn’t happen that way. His team were unbeaten in eight matches in a row when in full strength, and they lost only one game in the last 17 prior to this one, and that may be one of the reasons Ghana struggled so much. Antoine Semenyo’s winner for the Black Stars against Angola 🇬🇭 #GHAANG pic.twitter.com/w1gVDOZO8l— GHOne TV (@GHOneTV) March 23, 2023 The first half was pretty uneventful. Ghana had the initiative and even had three shots on target, but in fact didn’t create a good chance. In fact, it was Angola who had the best opportunity to score, but Kialonda Gaspar didn’t shoot well from close range. The visitors even had a better possession, but Ghana overturned this statistic at the end of the half. The second part of the match was equally boring, as the home team increased the pressure, but the visitors were firm and concentrated in defense, so the Black Stars had only one real chance, by Kamaalden Sulemana in the 72nd minute, but the ball went over the bar. Angola defenders lost concentration in the 96th minute and Bournemouth’s Semenyo used it for the winning goal, after which the referee whistled the end of the game.Africa Cup of Nations Qualification 2023, Group EGhana – Angola 1-0 (0-0)/ Antoine Semenyo 90+6/Madagascar – CAR 0-3 (0-2)/Ngoma 36, Mafouta 45, 72/

 

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