The Black stars of Ghana failed to make the most of their home dominance as they were held to a barren scoreless draw by the Super Eagles at the Baba Yara Stadium in the first leg of the 2022 World Cup qualifier on Friday, March 25.
The host started the early exchanges of the game on the front foot, pegging the visitors in their own yard for most parts of 10-15 minutes, creating chances through Fatawu Issahaku, newbie Afena-Gyan but the defence of the away side stayed resolute as they repelled most of the attacks by the host.
The Super Eagles slowly grew in confidence, as they started creating chances of their own, they probed the vital area of their opponents through Napoli’s in-form striker, Victor Osimhen and Joe Aribo but Joojo Wollacott in post for the Blackstars was equal to the task, keeping the scoreline goalless.
After the recess, the Black Stars continued right from where they left off, controlling possession, creating chances, and beating their opposition to the 50-50 battle in the heart of midfield with Aribo and Iddrisu having their own fair share of battles.
It wasn’t until the 76th minute, where Baba Iddrisu nearly gifted Nigeria with a penalty after his hand had touched the ball from going down in the penalty box following a tackle from Osimhen but VAR which was installed for the purpose of this game overruled the penalty calls by Nigeria, Ghana left off the hook.
Both teams quickly moved past the incident with an ambition to find a winner but it wasn’t to be as they had to settle for a hapless draw in Kumasi with all to play for in Abuja on Tuesday, March 29, at the Moshood Abiola Stadium.
