Andre Ayew penalty in the first half was enough to give Ghana 1-0 victory over Uganda in their 2017 CAF Africa Cup of Nations Group D match at Stade de Port-Gentil in Gabon on Tuesday.
Cranes got off to a bright start in what seemed to become a beautiful return to their first Nations Cup since 1978 with Tony Mawejje powerful shot inside the first 10 minutes that nearly slipped out of Razak Brimah’s hands.
Ghana took the control of the match from the 20th minute with Uganda defence looking shaky.
Asamoah Gyan proved to be a thorn in the Cranes backline, making fantastic runs, but his efforts, especially the header in the 23rd minute, bore no fruit.
Black Stars were awarded a penalty 10 minutes later when Isaac Isinde missed the ball and as a result pulled down Asamoah Gyan inside the penalty box.
Ayew, the West Ham winger, handed the Black Stars the lead as he easily converted the penalty, having made Deniss Onyango to dive the wrong way.
In the second half, Cranes coach, Milutin Sredojevic, made few changes, bringing in three attack minded players.
It was from that point that the Cranes started dominated the proceedings.
Geofrey Massa missed several opportunities to give Cranes an equalizer with the best chance coming in 68th minute when he unleashed a thunder that narrowly missed target by inches.
Ghana had good chance to extend their lead in 82nd minute when Atsu was clean through, but his seater was collected by Onyango.
Cranes continued to dominate in the last minutes of the half and created few opportunities with Black Stars defending their lead.
Uganda will next face Egypt in a must win match to increase their chances of making it to quarter finals.
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