Jordan Ayew made a great announcement to the Ghana national team on Sunday afternoon as he struck twice in the first half of the Black Stars 2-0 victory over Ethiopia in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah handed starting berths to Andre Ayew and his brother Jordan Ayew while Newcastle United star Christian Atsu joined Levante forward Emmanuel Boateng in attack.
TSG Hoffenheim’s Kasim Nuhu partnered the experienced John Boye in central defence.
It didn’t take long for Ghana to open the scoring and it was through Jordan Ayew who was played through by his brother Andre Ayew as he raced inside the box to strike a low crisp shot past Abel Mamo in the Ethiopian goal.
But, it was Andre Ayew who had the first effort at goal when he ballooned a shot wide from 18 yards out.
Jordan Ayew gave away a foul for swinging an arm in the face of an Ethiopian defender inside the 10th minute.
Richard Ofori had to be alert on the 18th minute mark to stop a goal-bound effort from Omod Okwury and Emmanuel Boateng responded for a Ghana with a deflected against the body of hosts defence men.
Ghana continued their superior dominance in the final third as Andre Ayew burst forward in awesome flamboyance to play through Boateng who was fouled inside the box the on-rushing Mamo. Jordan Ayew elected himself and expertly dispatched the kick for his second goal of the afternoon.
Thomas Partey was sawed down by Addis Gidey in the middle on the 39th minute mark when he applied an artful technique to recover the ball for Ghana and Harrison Afful made a great clearance to keep Ghana 2-0 up inside the 41st minute after John Boye and Nuhu were beaten.
While Partey was relatively silent – Wakaso Mubarak was workaholic all afternoon, running into space and delivering incisive passes.
Metz defender John Boye nearly increased the tally for Ghana 2 minutes into the second-half but goalkeeper Mamo managed to scoop his ball out with a feline agility. The former Stade Rennes man was involved in the mix again on the 53rd minute mark as he cleared a dangerous ball and nearly crashed into Richard Ofori and his lack of communication obviously gulled the central defender.
There was obvious breakdown in the Ghana midfield just around the hour mark and Kwesi Appiah pulled out the underwhelming Thomas Partey and replaced him with Empoli’s Afriyie Acquah to anchor the engine of the team.
Defender Mujib Kassim called Ofori to duty when he fired a shot at goal with the Maritzburg United glovesman making a diving save to tip it over the bar in the 65th minute.
Newcastle United’s Christian Atsu was replaced by Waasland-Beveren’s Nana Opoku Ampomah in the 72nd minute.
The win boosts Black Stars qualification chances as they move to second in Group F, just a point behind leaders Kenya.
Source:Starr Sports
