Kumasi, September 1, 2017//-Ghana’s hopes of making it to Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup was left in tatters following a 1-1 stalemate against Red Devils of Congo on match day three of Group E qualifiers.
The Black Stars needed to pick three points against the Red Devils to have any chance of making yet again another World Cup tournament.
However, Ghana’s lackadaisical start to the game was exposed as Congo opened the scoring through deadly poacher Thievy Bifouma in the 18th minute after he capitalized on Joseph Attamah’s blunder.
Ghana came out strongly in the second half as they went in search of an early equalizer but just like the first half, they were poor in the final third of the pitch as Congo goalkeeper Mouko had little to deal with.
The Red Devils could have doubled their lead in the 49th minute when Thomas Partey poor clearance fell kindly to Fabrice Mayembo, but the midfielder blasted his shot over the bar.
Ghana pushed more bodies forward after realizing that the game was slipping through their hands.
Coach Kwesi Appiah wielded the axe by replacing captain Asamoah Gyan with NAC Breda winger Thomas Agyepong in the 62nd minute. The Manchester City loanee brought new sense of attacking threat into the side as his direct runs caused so many problems for the Congo defenders.
Six minutes later, Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah replaced Gyan’s Andre Ayew with Kwadwo Poku but the result remained the same.
However, just as the game looked to be ending in a disaster for Ghana, Thomas Partey blasted a low shot past goalkeeper Mouko, who had been impressive throughout the eighty five minutes, to level the scores line for Ghana.
Ghana increased their tempo in the final third as Agyepong continued to cause headache to the Devils but he was poor with his finishing as the matches ended in 1-1 draw, which leaves Ghana’s hope of qualifying to Russia 2018 in tatters.
Ghanasoccernet.com
