{"id":744695,"date":"2022-01-11T13:11:45","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T13:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/01\/11\/ghana-suffer-defeat-in-group-opener-against-morocco\/"},"modified":"2022-01-11T13:11:45","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T13:11:45","slug":"ghana-suffer-defeat-in-group-opener-against-morocco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/01\/11\/ghana-suffer-defeat-in-group-opener-against-morocco\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana suffer defeat in group opener against Morocco"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Black Stars of Ghana kicked off their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] campaign with a defeat against Morocco.<\/p>\n

An 83rd-minute Sofiane Boufal goal gave the North African giants a crucial win over Ghana at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde.<\/p>\n

Milovan Rajevac and his side were hoping to make a bright start to the tournament.<\/p>\n

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Ghana started the game well and created chances but failed to convert them.<\/p>\n

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Morocco\u2019s best chance of the half came from a set-piece, as Wolves defender, Romain Sa\u00efss headed just wide from a free-kick.<\/p>\n

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Prior to that, Amallah\u2019s long-range effort was hit straight at Black Stars goalie, Jojo Wollacott.<\/p>\n

Kamaldeen Sulemana was quite lively earlier in the game, giving PSG\u2019s Achraf Hakimi a few difficult moments.<\/p>\n

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Rajevac\u2019s side found chances difficult to come by, however, only barely threatening Morocco goalie, Bounou\u2019s goal from a Partey freekick and a Joseph Paintsil run and shot.<\/p>\n

The Black Stars had a strong penalty shout waved away by the referee right before the break when Andre Ayew was upended in the box.<\/p>\n

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Both sides came out a little stronger in the second half and the game grew in intensity, but they continued to struggle to create clear chances.<\/p>\n

Jordan Ayew had a cutback cleared behind for a corner before Andre Ayew volleyed a Baba Rahman cross over the bar.<\/p>\n

A ball over the top from Alexander Djiku found Kamaldeen, who burst into the Moroccan box.<\/p>\n

His cutback was cleared into the path of Paintsil, whose effort from outside the box was saved quite magnificently by Bounou.<\/p>\n

Despite the period of pressure from the Stars, it was Morocco who took the lead.<\/p>\n

Sofiane Boufal picked up the ball in the box after some pretty unconvincing attempts by the Stars defence to clear and fired past Jojo Wollacott.<\/p>\n

This prompted a triple change from Milovan Rajevac as he brought on Fatawu Issahaku, Benjamin Tetteh and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh.<\/p>\n

But it was the Atlas Lions who looked more likely to score again as Saiss headed wide from a free-kick before Wollacott was forced into a brilliant late save.<\/p>\n

Ghana will play Gabon in their next Group C game\u00a0on Friday.<\/p>\n

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