Stars rout Ethiopia 5-0 at Baba Yara
Kumasi football fans defied a 45-minute downpour to provide the Black Stars the needed home support to wallop the Walias of Ethiopia 5-0 in a group F opener of the AFCON 2019 qualifier at the Baba Yara Stadium yesterday.
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The win moved the Black Stars to the top of the group on goal difference after Sierra Leone defeated Kenya 2-1 at home last Saturday.
The deafening noise from the packed 43,000-capacity stadium was enough tonic to propel Coach Kwasi Appiah's charges to score two quick goals to electrify the Baba Yara Sports Stadium with drumming and singing .
Ghana's all-time scorer and captain of the Stars, Asamoah Gyan, finished off a move initiated on the left side of attack by Munich 1860 player Lumor Agbenyenu, whose inswinger was connected by Gyan to take a ricochet off the body of defender Hamza Muji Kasim in the 10th minute before hitting the net for the match opener.
That stunner froze the Ethiopians whose best move until then had been up to the centre line. But the real shock came from defender John Boye, four minutes later, when he made a quick turn outside the edge of the box to deliver a 25-metre drive to the blind side of goalkeeper Gebreyonanes Abel Mamo for the second goal.
The early goals opened the door for a scramble for a goal harvest from the striking force as Lumor, Thomas Agyepong and Ebenezer Ofori provided the needed push from all angles hoping to increase the tally.
However, it was the Stuttgart player, Ofori, who all along had been one of the suppliers of the goals who eventually recorded his name on the score sheet with an immaculate 35-yard drive to take the tally to three in the 42nd minute before half time.
In spite of the 3-0 advantage, the Kumasi fans in their characteristic fashion, pushed the players for more goals with unending cheering. Led by a group from Katanga Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and other splinter cheer groups of the National Supporters Union, they kept on drumming and singing to galvanise the players to fire in more goals.
And the newest sensation, Swiss-based Rafael Dwamena, connected two six-yard loose balls in the 47th and the 59th minutes respectively to register his first and second international goals for the Black Stars on his debut.
The Ethiopians, who eliminated Nigeria from the last Nations Cup qualifiers in Addis Ababa, found it difficult to cope with the incessant attacks of the Stars as they chased their shadows.
From the last quarter of the game, however, the visitors broke through intermittently with some long range shots, but Wa All Stars goalkeeper, Richard Ofori, was on hand to deny them with brilliant saves.
Coach Appiah introduced Abdul Majeed Waris for Gyan, Afriyie Acquah for Partey and Jordan Ayew for his brother Dede in the last quarter of the match, but they could not add to the score line until Senegalese referee, Maguete Ndiaye, whistled for the end of the game.
Line-up (Ghana):
1.Richard Ofori, 2. Harrison Afful, 17. Lumor Agbenyenu, 15. John Boye, 18. Daniel Amartey, 5. Thomas Partey/Afriyie Acquah, 8. Ebenezer Ofori, 7. Thomas Agyepong, 10. Andre Dede Ayew/Jordan Ayew, 11. Rafael Dwamena, 3. Asamoah Gyan/Abdul Majeed Waris.