Ghana 3-1 Sao Tome: Black Stars rating

Ghana wrapped up their AFCON 2021 qualifiers with a comprehensive home victory against Sao Tome at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Debut goals from Nicolas Opoku and Baba Rahman separated by a smart penalty finish from Jordan Ayew gave the stars all three points and ensured they topped the group even though a mistake from goalkeeper Razak Abalora gave Sao Tome a consolation goal.

Here is how every player was rated:

Razak Abalora: 4 Will be disappointed with his mistake that led to the Sao Tome goal despite being largely untroubled in the game before then.

Benson Anang:6 The 20-year-old was busy and full of energy without really causing too much trouble to the opposition. Decent enough to not make a major mistake and would hope more call-ups will come again.

Baba Abdul Rahman: 7 A huge improvement from the South Africa game, got into brilliant spaces all game and took his goal well after some brilliant work from Kudus. Rahman will do well to find consistency as his performance today was like night and day compared to his previous outing.

Nicholas Opoku: 8 Powerful performance that deserved the debut goal, was alert throughout the game, popping up everywhere there was danger, and was a constant threat from set-pieces throughout.

Ganiyu Ismail: 5 compact and composed without really being flashy and will go away thinking he’s put in a good shift and acquitted himself well again. More opportunities will come.

Mubarak Wakaso:7 Industrious, heart and blood. Chased and hurried the opposition before being replaced midway into the second half. A good day’s work.

Thomas Partey: 5 A Quiet day for the Arsenal man. Didn't really get into the game and still struggles to dominate games for Ghana. He'll have better days.

Osman Bukari: 5 busy as a bee but didn’t do enough clearly to warrant a second-half showing and was replaced by Gladson Awako at the start of the second half.

Jordan Ayew: 6 Took his goal well from the spot and should have buried a few but kept getting into space and his overall play was impressive. The improvement to Jordan’s game has been his work ethic but as a striker, should be scoring more often than he’s currently doing.

Dede Ayew: 6 The captain worked hard as always but would be disappointed he didn’t get on the scoresheet. Swansea will be worried after he went down at the final whistle following an attempt to score in the last minute.

Mohammed Kudus: 7 Brilliant showing again from the Ajax man, kept tormenting the Sao Tome midfield every time he was on the ball. A joy to watch going forward and on this showing will grow from strength to strength. Good assist for the Baba Rahman goal.

Gladson Awako: 5 Finally made his debut for the Black Stars and was eager to impress. Can’t fault his energy and will, though some missed-placed passes affected his final ratings.

Ibrahim Imoro: 5 Replaced Baba Rahman and was solid enough without doing too much. One for the future.

Kwasi Okyere Wreidt: 4 The German-born made his debut and had one good opportunity to write his name in gold but hesitated and the opportunity was gone. His off-the-ball movement was easy to see.

Justice Blay: 4 Replaced Wakaso for his debut, picked up a yellow card, and left a little impression in the way of attack.

Kwame Poku: N/A.