Sports News of Saturday, 2 September 2017
Source: ghanasportsonline.com
2017-09-02
Black Stars
Ghana’s Black Stars saw their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification chances hanging on the thread after playing a 1-1 stalemate with Congo’s Red Devils at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on Friday afternoon.
The four-time African champions had to crawl back to equalise through Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey after Osmanl?spor forward Thievy Bifouma profited from an awful defending from Joseph Attamah.
Ghana Sports Online runs the rule over the performance of the Black Stars players in the game.
Richard Ofori – GOALKEEPER – 5/10
The Maritzburg United man pulled a string of great saves to stand between Ghana and defeat but organisational wise he failed as the Congolese exploited the weakness in the defence. He failed control the backline in the opening half and keep them in check.
Joseph Attamah Larweh – RIGHT-BACK – 3.5/10
Dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons after he was underwhelmed on his debut for the West African giants. The Istanbul defender was played out of his favourite center-back role and Ghana paid for it as the Red Devils exploited his weakness and scored through his lack of composure and confidence in the 18th minute. He was yanked off before the restart of the second 45 minutes with Columbus Crew’s Harrison Afful taking his place.
Jeffrey Schlupp – LEFT-BACK – 6/10
Strong, commanding and pacey. He was effective and impressed on his return to the Black Stars squad.
Daniel Amartey – CENTER-BACK – 4.5/10
An ordinary performance from the Leicester City man. He failed to impose himself on the game.
Jonathan Mensah – CENTER-BACK – 5.5/10
Distinguished himself in a defence that left much to be desired. He was commanding in the air and partnered well with Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey.
Thomas Partey – HOLDING MIDFIELD – 6.5/10 TOP OF THE MATCH
Capped his fine performance with the equalizer for Ghana. The Atletico Madrid man found his place in the midfield in the opening 45 minutes as he provided key passes in central midfield but the struggled to impose himself on the game after the interval as the Congolese resorted to sit back and attack, reducing the action.
Ebenezer Ofori – MIDFIELD – 5/10
Average performance from the Bundesliga midfielder. Enjoyed some fine moments in the game but average on a whole. Did nothing extraO.
Christian Atsu – LEFT-WING – 5.5/10
Poor set-piece delivery and low productivity from the Newcastle United man. He employed his pace but failed to make good use of them. He was Ghana’s liveliest place when attacking though and set up Thomas Partey to score the equalizer.
Andre Ayew – RIGHT-WING – 4.5/10
It was one of the games Andre Ayew would want to quickly forget. The West Ham United man was booed by the home fans as he was subbed by Miami FC’s Kwadwo Poku in the 68th minute. He was dead-cold in the game and his performance on the afternoon left most fans embittered.
Jordan Ayew – FORWARD – 3.5/10
Atrociously bad display. The Swansea City forward got a feel of how the fans feel about his performance when he was booed by the home fans for missing a string of fine chances. Too much over-elaboration.
Asamoah Gyan – FORWARD – 4.5/10
Quite ineffective and quiet afternoon for the captain. The Congolese defence tamed the 31-year-old who is gradually losing his impact on game. He was replaced in the 63rd minute by NAC Breda’s Thomas Agyepong as Ghana appeared toothless in attack.
SUBS
Harrison Afful (5)
Thomas Agyepong (4)
Kwadwo Poku (4)
The Manager – Kwesi Appiah (5.5)
