Black Stars stunned by late Cape Verde goal

Cape Verde shocked Ghana after Garry Rodrigues scored a stoppage-time winner to go top of Group B.

Chris Hughton has struggled during his stint in charge of Ghana, who based on this performance are very much a fading giant.

Cape Verde always looked dangerous when they went forward and they opened the scoring in the 17th minute of the game. Jovane Cabral had a shot saved by Richard Ofori but the rebound fell perfectly for Jamiro Monteiro to follow up.

Ghana almost equalised in an unlikely fashion when a ball from the right was intercepted by Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha. However, that touch hit the face of Ransford Königsdörffer with the ball then rebounding off the post.

Just a few seconds later, the ball was in the back of the Cape Verde net after Majeed Ashimeru fired an effort in from the outside of the area.

But it wasn't to be as VAR intervened and found that Königsdörffer was well offside and almost certainly affecting Vozinha's chances of saving it. Although even if Königsdörffer hadn't been there he would have struggled to get to what was a fierce effort.

The Black Stars eventually equalised with just over ten minutes gone in the second half when Jordan Ayew's corner from the right was headed in by Alexander Djiku. 

After levelling the score, Djiku also helped stop Bebé from putting Cape Verde back ahead when he made a vital interception to stop the Rayo Vallecano forward's effort.

Besides the lively Joseph Paintsil and the cameo appearance of Ernest Nuamah, Ghana lacked little threat going forward besides set-pieces and never really looked like they could complete a turnaround.

Instead, it was Cape Verde who earned a late winner.

The goal began with a mix-up at the back from the Ghanaian defence that allowed Gilson Benchimol to get a toe to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Ofori. That pass from Benchimol found Garry Rodrigues in front of a completely open net and the forward happily tapped the ball home to spark mad celebrations among players and supporters.

Cape Verde go top of Group B with this victory and considering that Egypt failed to beat Mozambique earlier, it could end up being a fascinating group.

⌚ FULL-TIME!

Garry Rodrigues' very late winner means Cape Verde get all 3 points! 🦈🇨🇻 #GHACPV | #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/SodUzvIcNC

— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 14, 2024