Ghana’s Black Princesses began their campaign at the 2023 African Games with a win against Ethiopia on Saturday evening.
Comfort Owusu scored the only goal of the game at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium to ensure Ghana moved top of Group A.
Head coach Yusif Basigi named a strong starting lineup for the game which included Black Queens duo Maafia Nyame and Comfort Yeboah with Mukarama Abdulai leading the attack.
Ghana struggled to break down their opponents in the opening minutes of the game with a resilient defensive performance from Ethiopia.
Maafia Nyame should have put the Princesses in the lead earlier on but her little dink over the goalkeeper just went wide of the goalpost.
The first half was characterised by a light-out situation which halted the game for close to 10 minutes.
Both teams headed into the break with nothing separating them.
After the recess, Basigi introduced Ophelia Serwaa Amponsah, who replaced Maafia Nyame. Amponsah’s first involvement in the game almost set up Comfort Owusu for the first goal of the game.
However, there was no stopping Comfort Owusu in the 59th minute after a poor clearance from the Ethiopians with the Hasaacas Ladies’ midfielder scoring from a rebound after Beline Nyarko’s initial shot.
Mukarama Abdulai came close to scoring late in the game but her effort from close range came off the post before being cleared.
The Princesses were reduced to 10 players after Abiba Issah received her second yellow before being shown her marching off orders.
However, Basigi’s held on to their lead to pick up all three points to send them top of the group after Tanzania and Uganda played out a 1-1 draw earlier in the day.
Ghana will face Tanzania in their next game on Tuesday, March 12.
Source: myjoyonline.com