Ghana End 37-Month AFCON Qualifying Winless Run; Ivory Coast, Senegal Win

Ghana ended a 37-month winless run in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying with a 2-0 victory over Somalia, while Ivory Coast, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded victories in Thursday’s matches.

The four-time African champions secured their first Group C win in Essipong after suffering defeats to Ivory Coast and The Gambia in their opening matches two months ago.

Defender Adjei Adjetey, who plays for German club VfL Wolfsburg, broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time with his first international goal for the Black Stars.

Turkey-based forward Felix Afena-Gyan doubled Ghana’s advantage in the 62nd minute to seal a much-needed victory for the team under acting head coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren.

However, Ghana’s performance exposed defensive weaknesses in the Somali side, ranked 200th in the world, 130 places below their opponents.

Adjetey exploited Somalia’s weakness in aerial defending to head home from a corner, while Afena-Gyan benefited from a goalkeeping error as Ibrahim Hussein allowed his relatively weak effort to slip underneath him.

Hussein had earlier saved a poorly struck penalty from Ghana captain Jordan Ayew.

In the other Group C encounter, defending champions Ivory Coast defeated The Gambia 2-1 in Bouake to maintain their perfect record and move top of the standings with nine points from three matches.

The Ivorians lead The Gambia, who have six points, while Ghana have three and Somalia remain without a point.

Ghana will have another opportunity to strengthen their qualification hopes when they face Somalia again on Monday, with the return fixture also taking place in Ghana after the East Africans ceded home advantage.

A second victory would put the Black Stars in a stronger position ahead of their final two matches against Ivory Coast and The Gambia next March.

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe played out a goalless draw in their Group E encounter in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Equatorial Guinea were without regular goalkeeper Jesus Owono, who is yet to decide whether to continue his football career following the death of Spanish second-division forward Jesus de Miguel after a collision involving the goalkeeper during a league match earlier this month.

Marcos Ondo replaced the 47-cap goalkeeper and had little to do as Zimbabwe concentrated largely on defending.

The result leaves both teams with four points, five behind group leaders DR Congo, who maintained their perfect record with a 3-1 victory over Sierra Leone in Kinshasa.

Newcastle United forward Yoane Wissa opened the scoring for the Congolese after just four minutes, with the hosts establishing a three-goal advantage before Samuel Bekoe scored a late consolation for Sierra Leone.

In Group J, Senegal strengthened their campaign with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Sudan in Dakar.

Aston Villa forward Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring before the Senegalese took control in the second half to secure an impressive home victory.

Senegal won the previous AFCON edition with a 1-0 extra-time victory over hosts Morocco in February.

However, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) subsequently stripped Senegal of the title and declared Morocco champions following a controversial incident in which most of the Senegalese players temporarily walked off the pitch to protest a penalty decision. The spot-kick was missed when play resumed.

Senegal have appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, with a ruling expected this month.