South Africa came back to hold Ghana to a 1-1 draw in a 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played at the FNB Stadium near Johannesburg on Thursday evening.
The Black Stars opened the scoring through Mohammed Kudus after the restart, but Percy Tau levelled matters for Bafana Bafana in the Group C encounter.
Bafana were looking to avenge their 2-0 defeat to Ghana in the reverse fixture in November 2019 and edged closer to qualifying for the finals, which will be hosted by Cameroon.
The Mamelodi Sundowns duo of Andile Jali and Rivaldo Coetzee started in midfield, while the Bafana returnee Ruzaigh Gamildien led the attack for Coach Molefi Ntseki’s side.
Meanwhile, the Black Stars were hoping to open a gap at the top of the group standings with another win over Bafana and also boost their hopes of reaching the finals.
Under siege
The Italy-born Ghanaian forward Emmanuel Gyasi was handed his debut for the Black Stars by Coach Charles Akonnor, while the experienced duo of Afriyie Acquah and Mubarak Wakaso started in midfield.
South Africa controlled the match in the opening proceedings and they threatened first when Thapelo Morena found himself unmarked in the box, but somehow the full-back hit the side-netting.
Bafana were forced to make a change after Jali went down, having sustained a groin injury, 24 minutes into the match. He was replaced by a fellow central midfielder, Ben Motshwari.
The hosts then upped the tempo and when the ball fell kindly for S’fiso Hlanti on the edge of the box he unleashed a powerful shot that was fingertipped over the crossbar by the Ghana goalkeeper, Razak Abalora.
Ghana were under siege, but they were fortunate when an unmarked Morena hit the side-netting for the second time on the night after being set up by Tau. The score was 0-0 at the interval.
Hosts gain momentum
The Black Stars came back rejuvenated following their half-time team talk with Akonnor and they managed to break the deadlock through the highly rated Kudus.
The Ajax Amsterdam playmaker found his way past Siyanda Xulu, before firing past the South Africa keeper, Ronwen Williams, to hand Ghana a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute.
However, the lead lasted only two minutes as Gamildien set up Tau, who slotted past Abalora with his weaker right foot to make it 1-1 following a quick move by Ntseki’s side.
The momentum was with the hosts, who were pushing for their second goal of the game and Akonnor decided to pull one midfielder out, Emmanuel Lomotey, and introduce the Trabzonspor striker Caleb Ekuban.
Tau, who was tormenting the Black Stars defence with his dangerous runs, set up Innocent Maela and the latter forced Abalora into a brilliant diving save as Bafana looked to snatch a late winning goal.
Coetzee attempted to score with a spectacular volley, but the Bafana midfielder’s effort flew over the crossbar in the latter stages of the encounter and the match ended as a 1-1 draw.
The result saw South Africa remain second on the group standings – level on points with the leaders, Ghana, with one match left for each team in the qualifying campaign.
Bafana will now take on Sudan away on Sunday, while the Black Stars host São Tomé e Príncipe on the same day. The top two teams from Group C are set to qualify for the finals.
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