Ghana beat Somalia to end 37-month winless AFCON run

JOHANNESBURG: Four-time champions Ghana ended a 37-month winless run in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers by beating minnows Somalia 2-0 in Essipong on Thursday.

Defender Adjei Adjetey from German second-tier club VfL Wolfsburg scored his first goal for the Black Stars in the second minute of first half added time.

Turkiye-based Felix Afena-Gyan doubled the lead on 62 minutes to seal a first victory in Group C for Ghana after losses to the Ivory Coast and the Gambia two months ago.

Later, Ivory Coast beat Gambia 2-1 in Bouake to top the table with nine points after three rounds. Gambia have six, Ghana three and Somalia none.

Somalia have ceded home advantage to Ghana when they meet again on Monday, offering the Black Stars a good chance of securing another win as they seek a top-two finish and qualification.

Assuming they complete a double over the Somalis, Ghana will then host Ivory Coast and visit Gambia in the final two matchdays next March.

While victory was a huge relief for Ghana and acting coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren, who was seconded from the women's national team, the performance left much to be desired.

Both goals stemmed from defensive shortcomings by Somalia, who are ranked 200th in the world, 130 places below Ghana.

A Somali aerial weakness was exposed for the first goal with Adjetey given time and space to nod a headed pass into the net after a corner.

Goalkeeper Ibrahim Hussein, who saved a weakly struck early penalty from veteran Ghana captain Jordan Ayew, was to blame for the second goal.

The 20-year-old allowed a shot from Afena-Gyan that lacked power to slip under his body and trickle into the net.

- Owono absent -

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea were without regular goalkeeper Jesus Owono when they dominated Zimbabwe in a 0-0 Group E draw in Yaounde.

Owono has not decided whether to continue playing football after his collision with Jesus de Miguel in a Spanish second division match this month led to the death of the forward.

Marcos Ondo replaced Owono, who has been capped 47 times by the central African country, and was barely troubled as Zimbabwe concentrated on defending.

The match was staged in Cameroon because Equatorial Guinea lack an international-standard stadium, 11 years after having four CAF-approved venues when hosting the 2015 AFCON.

Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea have four points each, five less than leaders the Democratic Republic of Congo, who maintained a perfect record by beating Sierra Leone 3-1 in Kinshasa.

Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa put the Congolese ahead after only four minutes and they built a three-goal lead before Samuel Bekoe scored a late consolation goal.

Another Premier League star, Nicolas Jackson of Aston Villa, scored the first goal for Senegal, who took control in the second half in Dakar to hammer Sudan 4-1 in Group J.

Senegal won the last edition of the AFCON with a 1-0 extra-time victory over hosts Morocco last February.

But CAF later declared Morocco champions after most of the Senegalese team temporarily left the field to protest a penalty, which was missed when play resumed.

Senegal have asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland to overturn the CAF ruling and a decision is expected this month. - AFP