Ghana beat Burkina Faso

Kumasi, June 5, GNA - Ghana's Black Stars on Sunday beat their Burkinabe counterparts, the Stallions 2-1 in their second leg World Cup qualifier match at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi. The first leg match played in Ouagadougou ended 1-0 in favour of the Stallions.

Ghana's two goals came in the latter part of the second half while Stallions scored their goal in the first half.

It was the Stars who went into action and nearly took the lead in the first minute but Asamoah Gyan's shot deflected to corner. The Stars missed another chance in the third minute when Mathew Amoah's shot was pushed to corner, which was wasted while Cisse Abdoulaye of the Stallions was flashed the yellow card in the 20th minute for dissent.

The Burkinabe's counter-attacked and moved deep into the Stars vital area but the defence would not bulge as they continued in their effort to find the leader. They however took the lead in the 29th minute through Kere Mahamoudu who pounced on a loose ball from John Mensah to tap in the ball from a goal line action after Stars keeper, Sammy Adjei had earlier failed to grab the ball.

The Stallions gained strength from this goal and kept probing for more goals as they put the defence of the Stars under pressure. Defender Emmanuel Pappoe was shown the yellow card in the 32nd minute for rough play.

Sensing danger, Stars coach Dujkovic brought on Issah Ahmed for Kofi Amponsah who was injured in the 36th minute and the inclusion of Ahmed brought some vim in the acts of the defence.
Mady Panandetiguri Seidu of the Stallions was shown the yellow card in the 40th minute for rough play while the Stars struggled to find the equaliser but a chance that came in the 45th minute was wasted.

Second Half

In the second half, the Stars with their pride at stake came in strongly in search of the equaliser but the packed defence of the Stallions repelled the attacks.

The Stars coach again replaced Asamoah Gyan for Joe Tex Frimpong in the 54th minute while Hamza Mohammed took over from Godwin Attram in the 62nd minute and the two changes saw the Stars piling on the heat on the Stallions, and in one of their moves Frimpong was pulled down in the box which the referee awarded a spot kick and skipper Stephen Appiah beautifully slotted home the resultant kick in the 65th minute for the Stars much needed equaliser.

The Stars showed determination to carry the day and attacked from all angles and no wonder they got the winning goal in the 82nd minute through Mathew Amoah whose shot sailed into the blind side of goalkeeper Soulama Abdoulaye Traore from a Stephen Appiah's cross.

Results & table

The Stallions struggled desperately to find the equaliser but the defence of the Stars thwarted all their moves till the final whistle of the Egyptian referee.

Line Up: Sammy Adjei, John Painstil, John Mensah, Kofi Amponsah(Issa Ahmed), Addoqyaue Pappoe Yakubu Abubakari, Stephen Appiah, Matthew Amoah, Mark Edusei, Asamoah Gyan (JoeTex), Godwin Attram(Hamza Mohammed )