Andre Ayew marked his 91st match in Ghanaian colours, scoring a sensational brace as the Black Stars beat Sudan 2-0 at the Cape Coast Stadium on Thursday to retain their 100% form in the qualifiers for the 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations.
Ayew scored his first with an expertly taken freekick in the opening half before adding his second in the 80th minute with a well taken shot from the edge of the box.
The victory sees Ghana move to nine points from the opening three games as they also kept their third successive clean sheet, their journey to Cameroon well in line. Sudan remain third with just three points.
The Ghanaians totally dominated the opening half, bossing 64% of the possession, but only had one goal to show for it. Ayew got the Black Stars ahead after 18 minutes in sizzling fashion, striking a brilliant freekick from the edge of the box that left Sudanese keeper Ali Abdalla dazed.
Though a scrappy start, Ghana always looked dangerous and three minutes before they were ahead, Ayew had a shot trickle wide with his brother Jordan racing into the box to try and throw a boot in.
Sudan’s forays into the Ghanaian final third were limited but had one fruitful one in the 24th minute when Mohamed Abdelrahman raced onto a through ball planted behind the defense, but his final shot hit the side netting.
Ghana should have been 2-0 up on the other end after 28 minutes, but Sudanese keeper Abdalla made a save with his trailing leg to deny Samuel Owusu who had broken into the box after a defense splitting through ball from Tarique Fosu.
Six minutes to the break, Jordan Ayew tried his luck with a shot from distance but it flew over the bar while at the stroke of halftime, his brother Andre thought he had doubled the lead when he headed home from an Owusu cross, but he was adjudged to have fouled a defender on the process.
Sudan came back better structured in the second half and moved the ball around the park better. They should have drawn level in the 58th minute but Abdelrahman’s diving header with only the keeper to beat off an Ahmed Hamid cross went agonizingly wide.
They kept possession, but couldn’t show anything for it. They were made to pay 10 minutes from time when Ayew took on an individual task, dribbling his way to good scoring range at the edge of the box, before unleashing a left footed belter.
Meanwhile in Kampala, hosts Uganda remained top of Group B after leaving it late to beat a resilient South Sudan by a solitary goal to move to seven points after three matches. The Cranes also kept their third clean sheet in a row.
Substitute Halid Lwaliwa bounced the winning header home with five minutes left on the clock after rising highest in a packed box to link up with a Karim Watambala freekick from the left.
