John Pantsil came up against Edwin Gyimah in the South African Premier Soccer League as Mpumalanga Black Aces beat Maritzburg United 1-0.
The two sides are battling in mid-table in the domestic top flight, and while Black Aces secured the three points on Wednesday evening, they remain behind Maritzburg in the league.
However, having lost their last two matches, the latter are on a poor run of form and will fear being overtaken imminently—Maritzburg sit in ninth place, level on points with the University of Pretoria in 10th and 11th-place Black Aces.
Zambia forward Collins Mbesuma scored the only goal of the game on 71 minutes to settle an uninspiring contest at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
Another Ghanaian, striker Mohammed Anas, was one of the match’s key protagonists. The Maritzburg hitman saw a long-range effort fly just wide at the end of the first half, while a second-half effort rattled against the crossbar.
Anas is enjoying a fine campaign, having scored six times in 12 starts this season, but he will have been disappointed not to have added to his tally on Wednesday.
Ultimately, former Portsmouth man Mbesuma settled the match after firing coolly past Team of Choice stopper Virgil Vries with less than 20 minutes to play.
While Anas was replaced on ’64, veteran defender Pantsil played the full 90 minutes. The defender, who represented Ghana at both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, arrived at Maritzburg in 2014 following stints with Fulham, West Ham United and Hapoel Tel Aviv.
The versatile defender hasn’t been called up by the Black Stars since the 2013 Cup of Nations, but his opponent on Wednesday, Edwin Gyimah, remains a part of Avram Grant’s national side.
The centre-back-cum-defensive midfielder has featured 19 times for Amazayoni so far this season, scoring once. He arrived on loan at the beginning of the campaign from SuperSport United, having previously played for Wa All Stars and Sekondi Hasaacas.
Gyimah was the only outfield member of the Ghana squad not to have received any playing time at the 2015 Afcon, but came on as a substitute in the Black Stars’ recent 1-1 friendly draw with Mali.
