Ghana defeat South Africa in AYC opener

Ghana claimed a two-goal victory over South Africa in Group B opening match of the U-20 Championship in M’Bour, Senegal on Monday.

Two first half goals were enough to secure a comfortable win for Ghana despite enjoying a numerical advantage early in the second half.

The Black Satellites started brightly and could have opened the scoring in the second minute after Asiedu Attobrah set up Dreams FC striker Benjamin Tetteh but the Amajita defenders thwarted the last ditch effort.

Ghana continued to heap pressure on the opposing side and in the 8th minute, South African defender Aubrey Modiba deflected a ball into own net while attempting to clear a cross swung in by Prosper Kassim.

The South Africans quickly recovered from the shock and began to find their footing, launching three scary moves from the right flank into Ghana area, but the West Africans’ back half stood firm thanks to the agility of Joseph Aidoo and co.

Ghana had another clear cut chance to double their lead in the 17th minute when Tetteh was set up by Clifford Aboagye deep in the South African area. However, the beautiful combination never turned fruitful.

The one way traffic continued in favour of Ghana, who claimed a second goal in the 44th when Benjamin Tetteh cleverly crossed the defence line to connect a short and timely lob fromYaw Yeboah before flicking past goalkeeper Masibi.

South Africa had issues compounded when Modiba was sent off early into second half, meaning the Ghanaians would have a one-man advantage to increase their lead. However, it didn’t count as the score remained 2-0 until the final whistle.

Ghana will take on Zambia next while South Africa will face Mali on Thursday at the same venue.