Ghana had a disappointing night at the FNB Stadium stadium as the Black Stars could not avoid defeat with a below-par performance against South Africa in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Monday, September 6.
Although the team was poor, Alexander Djiku in defense and Emmanuel Lomotey in midfield had an impressive individual performance despite the defeat.
Bongokuhle Hlongwane’s late goal earned the Bafana Bafana the first victory in the qualifying round after two games to go top of Group G.
Ghana in addition to falling behind literally all the statistics in the match did not create at least one clear cut chance from open play. Obviously, it was worst as the team had just a shot on target from Mubarak Wakaso’s freekick inside the first 5 minutes of the match.
Following the defeat, the Black Stars sit behind South Africa who is on four points with a point separating the two.
Player Ratings
Richard Ofori- 4
The Black Stars number one did not have many saving duties to do but the few times he was called to action, he looked shaky. From struggling to make an easy grasp of a straight freekick in the first half to lettings the ball through his legs which almost led to the opener in the early minutes of the second half. The night could not get any frustrating for him as he picked up an injury and was subbed off before South Africa got their deserving goal.
Fatawu Mohammed- 5
The Hearts of Oak captain could not make a good account for himself as he struggled with his defensive duties on his Black Stars debut. His poor positioning and anticipation led to the goal which he could have done better to prevent the ball from going in. Nonetheless, he had some good moments in the game with switching plays and clearing the lines a few times.
Jonathan Mensah- 5
Mensah had an okay performance but good anticipation to stop attacks was lacking in his game today and he was not commanding as he used to be. His return to the team since 2019 turned out to be one to forget.
Alexander Djiku- 6.5
The Strasbourg center half has been impressive since his debut this year and today was no exemption. He is a deep line playmaker who can affect the match from the heart of defense with his brilliant passing but could not activate that side of his game, misplaced lots of his long passes.
Gideon Mensah– 6.5
The left-back with his performance today has sent a message to Baba Rahman who is the first choice and missed the game through COVID reasons. Defensively, difficult to dribble past but had to improve on his offensive work.
Emmanuel Lomotey- 7
Lomotey was by far the best performer in the team. The Amiens midfielder did a good job in the holding role but his poor passing and decision making let him down few times.
Mubarak Wakaso- 4
Wakaso did not have his usually thumping and energetic performance. He couldn’t let things tick as he many misplaced passes specifically long passes that could have set the team on the attack.
Majeed Ashimeru- 4
The former WAFA man had a good start with his short passes and finding the attackers in pocket spaces but faded out as the game progressed and was eventually subbed off in the second half.
Yaw Yeboah- 4
Yeboah just like Ashimeeru was not involved in many actions as expected. He literally couldn’t use his quick feet in one v one situations. He posed no threat on the flanks.
Andre Ayew- 4
The Black Stars captain was a pale shadow of himself throughout the minutes he lasted on the pitch; lost the ball countless times and could not link up with any of the forwards. He was replaced by Samuel Owusu in the 71st minute.
Joel Fameyeh- 5.5
Fameyeh was the brightest spot in the attack. He shielded the ball well and looked quite dangerous on the right side. However, he was the first to be substituted for Kwame Opoku.
Subs
Kwame Opoku- 3
The USM Alger striker came on for the last 30 minutes and made no impact in the game. Although he made some good runs which were ignored sometimes, he misplaced simple passes and broke down the teams attack.
Lawrence Ati-Zigi- 3
The Black Stars second choice goalie came on to replace injured Ofori on the 78th minute and conceded the only goal in the match two minutes later. Apparently, he could not hold the team down for the last few minutes.
Samuel Owusu- N/A
Iddrisu Baba- N/A
