AFCON 2015: Black Stars Cruise into AFCON finals


Ghana set up a dream Nations Cup final against Ivory Coast on Sunday after beating Equatorial Guinea 3-0 to the dismay of a packed Estadio de Malabo that towards the end of the game resembled a war zone.

The running tracks were full of water bottles and objects as the home crowd grew agitated with Ghana’s dominance of the game. And the constant abuse of the Ghana fans by the home crowd soon forced a big contingent of them to take refuge in the inner perimeter that held up the game for almost a full forty five minutes. Police were later forced to use tear gas to drive to calm the strangely agitated crowd calm.

Those scenes ruined what had been a dominant Ghana display that the home side could just not cope or deal with.

The much maligned Jordan Ayew set the Black Stars on the road to a record breaking 9th Nations Cup final and on course for a fifth Nations Cup trophy before Mubarak Wakaso finished off a superb counter attack for a 2-0 half time lead. Dede Ayew then scored his third goal of the tournament to from a Kwesi Appiah pass.

It sent Ghana through to a ninth Nations Cup final and a second in the last five years.
That silenced a hugely partisan home crowd in a game that had for long spells in the first half been a forgettable affair.

Gabonese referee Eric Otogo-Castane was under pressure from the first minute with the home crowd and home bench yearning for every bit of opportunity they could lay hands on. But he stood firm throughout, perhaps with the events of the last Equatorial Guinea home game and the subsequent ban for the referee in mind.

Ghana started brilliantly though with Dede Ayew in inspiration form, Christian Atsu really in the mood and Jordan Ayew, in for the injured Asamoah Gyan linking up well.

But it was also an opening half that was punctuated by too many fouls and a whistle happy referee which infuriated the hosts at least on one occasion. Iban Edu looked to have nicked the ball off Mubarak Wakaso cleanly but the referee called it a foul for Ghana, drawing the irk of the home crowd in the process.

Then the referee made potentially the breakthrough call for Ghana. Christian Atsu bore down through the middle for the Black Stars and played a sweet ball through Kwesi Appiah who was clipped by Fabrice Ovono. The brilliant goalkeeper was lucky to be shown a yellow card but the referee made the right call in whistling for a penalty.

Up stepped Jordan Ayew whose brother Dede, seemed to have ceded the penalty duties to him. It was a perfect decision before Jordan was calm from nine yards, sending Ovono the wrong way before simply rolling the ball into the net.

The relief on his face was obvious as he made the dash for captain Asamoah Gyan for a big hug. The two of them know a thing or two about riding public storms and Gyan’s support has proved crucial.

Minutes later a stunned stadium went even more silent with the second goal which was all made again by the brilliance of Christian Atsu. The Chelsea man tore down the flanks from a corner kick and set it up for Mubarak Wakaso who drilled it into an open net.

The fans were agitated and begun throwing water bottles unto the pitch which were scenes similar to some of the disgraceful scenes we had witnessed in Ghana in the past.

The Ghana players went off the field with heavy police escort and returned determined to hold on. The Equatorial Guinea fans kept throwing water bottles on the pitch at every opportunity but Ghana stayed focused on the pitch and were soon 3-0 up.

Baba Rahman played Kwesi Appiah through and after Ovono failed to clear, Appiah rolled it into the path of Dede Ayew who finished it cutely.

It was goal number three for Ghana but that seemed to trigger the anger of the home fans even more. They pelted the Ghana fans in the stadium with more bottles and as the abuse grew intense, the fans sought refuge in the inner perimeter of the stadium with ten minutes of play left.

The referee paused the game with Equatorial Guinea players begging their fans to halt the throwing of objects. There was a full thirty minute hold up as the match officials battled with what to do before the Ghana fans were led off the field for their own safety.

SOURCE: Allsports