Sofaine Boufal scored a late goal to help Morocco defeat Ghana 1-0 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Group C opening match on Monday.
Boufal’s lone goal came in the 83rd minutes when he luckily collected a diverted ball from Thomas Partey’s tackle against Zakaria Aboukhlal who was teasing the Ghana defence, only for Boufal to utilize the looseball by firing home a right foot in the left corner.
Not much as was expected was delivered by both teams as they struggled to create chances. Both teams had a couple free kicks and it was Morocco that made a good use of one of theirs five minutes before the break when Saiss tried to flick the ball with his head, but was too much on it.
Three minutes later, Ghana tried to take the lead through Joseph Paintsil who drove his way through the Moroccans, but ended up lashing the ball over the crossbar to bring the first half to a close.
Morocco made five attempts with just one on target in the first half, while the Ghanaians had two attempts with none on target.
The second half became more competitive as both teams raised the tempo in search of their first three points in Group C.
It was the Moroccans that kept the Ghanaian defence on the backfoot by creating more chances, but the Black Stars defence also kept their composure.
Ghana had their best chance 72 minutes on the clock when Paintsil sent in a powerful right-footed strike from outside the area after the North Africans failed to clear their defensive line, but goalkeeper Yassine Bounou made a timely one-handed save to deny Ghana from taking the lead.
Monday’s proves crucial for Vahid Halilhodzic’s men as they head into the remaining group matches with three points on the log, while their Ghanaians are going to be pressured to do better in the competition.
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