Nothing official was at stake in Saturday’s match as both teams had already qualified for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with a game to spare. Ghana took their revenge through debutant Caleb Ekuban, who scored the only goal of the meeting in the 82nd minute to help the hosts finish on top of Group F with 9 points. Kenya won the first leg 1-0.
Local pundits got it right when they predicted that the Black Stars would fight to have their revenge over the visitors. It clearly showed in ball possession, with Ghana having 62.9% as opposed to Kenya’s 37.1%.
Despite Ghana’s domination almost throughout the meeting, Kenya put up a commendable resistance which can be seen in the superior number of tackles they successfully realized – 70% against 60% for Ghana.
The midfield battle was almost balanced, with the hosts slightly having the upper hand with 85.4% of passing success while the Harambee Stars had 75.6%. Not bad at all!
While Ghana controlled most of the balls in their push to carry the day, they lost many as well in the process, likewise their hosts, who wasted a number of useful balls: Ghana – 128, Kenya – 118.
Goal Ghana
Once more, both sides were neck to neck in ball recoveries, which is another indication of how intense the clash was. Ghana had a total of 53 while Kenya can boast of 48.
Going back to possession, Ghana made a total of 662 touches, significantly higher than Kenya’s 437.
Positive actions in opposition box: of course expect this going in favor Ghana, who was more determined to find the back of the net. They realized 26 as opposed to Kenya’s 4.
Positive actions in own box: Expect Kenya to do more in fending off Ghana’s onslaughts. They realized 61 while the Black Stars fought back 29 times.
Kenya did not suffer humiliation in Accra as Ghana did not in Nairobi. Both coaches had the opportunity to carry out a closer assessment of their respective teams which could help in player selection for the upcoming Afcon.
