Sports

Ghana 2-3 Comoros: Four times African champions have been knocked out of 2021 AFCON!

Published

2 years ago

January 18, 2022

Goals from Ben El Fardou and two from Ahmed Mogni – Comoros’ first-ever in the Africa Cup of Nations – gave the debutants a famous win, and condemned Ghana – who had Andre Ayew ludicrously sent-off – to ignominious exit..

Comoros, meanwhile, will go through if results go for them elsewhere.

Ghana, who had been dreadful in their first two games, knew they probably needed a win to progress, and started with greater attacking intention than before.

But on four minutes they were caught on the counter, Youssouf M’Changama turning Daniel Amartey and found Ben, who finished superbly..

But it was on 21 minutes that everything really changed. Salim Ben Boina spilled Kamaldeen Sulemana’s shot, Ayew slid in to win the loose ball, Ben Boina redeemed himself to save well, and the ref somehow appraised a red card from Var, when the pair collided thereafter.
Ben Boina was hurt, it is true, and could not continue, but that can happen in a contact sport. Ayew was not reckless, and was well within his rights to try and score..

On 64 minutes, and even though Ghana dominated the second half, the match looked over when Mogni finished smartly, but Ghana kept at it and set-piece goals, on 64 and 75 minutes, gave them a sniff. Comoros, though, held firm, then Mogni made things safe on the counter to seal an earth-shattering win.
And what’s more, if Guinea-Bissau don’t beat Nigeria and Sudan don’t beat Egypt, then Algeria don’t beat Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone lose to Guinea, they’ll be joining Morocco and Gabon in their first-ever knockout stages, those teams having shared a 2-2 draw.