African Games: Congo hold Black Satellites in stalemate
Ghana's Black Satellites and their Congolese counterparts played a scoreless draw in their opening group clash at the 13th African Games at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday.
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The Satellites will rue the many missed chances that fell at their disposal as they paid the price for poor ball control and the lack of finesse in front of their opponents' goal area.
For the Congolese it was a valuable point gained as the Ghanaians had home advantage and more scoring chances in the match.
The game commenced with the Satellites launching wave after wave of attacks, with forward Musibau Aziz leading the charge. However, despite several promising chances, Aziz and his compatriots struggled to breach the Congolese defence.
Winger Maxwell Azafokpe came agonisingly close to breaking the stalemate in the 15th minute, but Aziz failed to convert his cross into a goal as he shot wide to the relief of the Congolese. Despite their continued dominance, Ghana's inability to convert their chances left them frustrated as they failed to clinch victory on home soil.
In the second half, Coach Desmond Sakyi Offei's side continued to press forward in search of a goal and nearly got the opener in the 57th as winger Jerry Afriyie outwitted his Congolese marker at the edge of the box and released Aziz who side-footed the ball away from the post.
Later, the Satellites introduced substitutes David Amuzu and Emmanuel Agyei into the game to inject fresh energy into the attack, but the Congolese defence remained resolute.
A moment of brilliance from Aziz in the 77th minute nearly secured the win for Ghana, but his thunderous strike rattled the inside of the post before bouncing out, much to the dismay of the home fans.
As the game drew to a close, Congo introduced striker Diolvy Moukouba to bolster their attack, but Ghana's defence stood firm while the agility of Ghana's goalie Saeed Yakubu in the 81st minute ensured the match ended in a stalemate.
Despite the disappointing result, Ghana will look to bounce back in their upcoming Group A encounter against The Gambia on Tuesday.
