Ghana’s Under-23 team, Black Meteors secured a 3-2 victory over Congo in the opening game of match day one of the TotalEnergies African Cup of Nations tournament.
There were five second half goals; Ernest Nuamah scored the game’s opener and Emmanuel Yeboah added two more to ensure the late gasp by the Congolese side cannot deter the Ibrahim Tanko led team from clinching the maximum three points.
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After a quiet first half which saw neither side making any clear cut incursion in front of goal; Coach Tanko made the decision to vary his tactics by sacrificing skipper Daniel Afriyie Barnieh and Sylvester Simba for two goals hero, Emmanuel Yeboah and Ibrahim Hafiz.
The impact of the substitutions was felt after four minutes after Emmanuel Yeboah set off Ernest Nuamah who had the yawning net at his mercy and tapped in the opener on the 50th minute.
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Emmanuel Yeboah went on to score two goals of his own in the 73rd and 80th minutes to put Ghana 3-0 clear.
The scary moments came later in the additional time when Congo through Kokolo and Ngatse scored two goals on the 90+3 and 90+4 minutes respectively.
Ghana held on to end the game 3-2 which then out Ghana top of Group A.
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Ghana will play Morocco next on Tuesday in the second group stage games.