Madagascar proving too strong for Ghana in Kumasi

The Black Stars of Ghana are finding things difficult in their own backyard as Madagascar shows more intent than the hosts. With 45 minutes of the game gone, Ghana was second best on the pitch the entire time as their guests came close to opening the scoring and kept Richard Ofori busy in between the posts.

Chris Hughton handed starts to Mohammed Kudus, Jordan Ayew and Inaki Williams with Antoine Semenyo joining the latter two in attack. But the Black Stars’ firepower proved a holiday as the Barea backline barely played under any pressure.

Meanwhile, the other end of the park saw Richard Ofori called into action on multiple occasions and had to be alert to tip one over the bar as Madagascar came very close to breaking the deadlock. The shot-stopper picked one from his net but thanks to the assistant referee, the goal did not stand.

On the other end, Ghana’s only chances came with a couple of offside calls and the most the team got was when Inaki Williams thought he was through on goal only to be marginally flagged offside. The Atletico Bilbao forward also had to watch on a Jordan Ayew cross was headed wide by Antoine Semenyo who could not properly connect to the ball while Williams waited behind for the same.

Chris Hughton definitely would have to make changes to the team in order to get the results in the remaining 45 minutes. Madagascar looks comfortable with a draw despite being the better of the two in the first half. A draw for the Black Stars would be a bad start as the supposed group favourites travel to face Comoros next week. The East Africans beat the Central African Republic by 4-2 to begin their campaign.

Who do we expect to see in the second half?

Andre Ayew should come to add more flesh to the attack while Alidu Seidu should be replaced with Denis Odoi at the back. The Black Stars should play with speed as their opponents are comfortable playing from the back and keeping the ball in play for long periods.