Crystal Palace striker Jordan Ayew marked his return to national duty in style as he netted twice to inspire Ghana to a 2-0 away triumph over Ethiopia in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on Sunday.
The forward, who last played for the Black Stars in September 2017, scored both goals in the first half to secure all three points for the away side at the Addis Ababa Stadium.
Ghana have moved to second in Group F - just a point below leaders Kenya - while the Walia Ibex maintain their third position on the standings.
Coach Appiah made some big calls in his XI, dropping captain Asamoah Gyan to the bench and going for Jordan and Levante ace Emmanuel Boateng as leaders of the 4-4-2 formation.
Ethiopia boss Abraham Mebratu, on the other hand, went for a 4-1-2-3, deploying Minyelu Wendimu, Omod Okuri and Addis Gidey as his prongs.
Having taken an early control of the game, Ghana broke the deadlock in just the third minute when Jordan, played through by Harrison Afful, made a run into the box and coolly slotted a low shot into the left corner.
Ethiopia struggled to make a comeback and it was not surprising that they resulted to long-range shots, the first of which came from the boots of Wendimu in the 19th minute.
Just a minute later, a sloppy Ethiopia defending gave possession away to Thomas Partey who put Boateng through on goal. The striker's close range shot was, however, deflected over for a corner.
Andre Ayew showed up in the 22nd minute with a through ball to Boateng but the Levante ace was brought down by goalkeeper Abel Mamo, resulting in a penalty.
Jordan stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the net for his second goal of the game.
Moments later, Wendimu tried another audacious shot but his effort flew over the bar.
After recess, the hosts came back stronger, this time taking the game to the visitors. A Gatoch Panom long-range effort was the first of a series of attempts at finding the back of Ghana's net.
In the 66th minute, Wendimu went close once again with a header but goalkeeper Richard Ofori reacted quickly to tip the ball over. That was just before Shemeles Bekele released another long-range shot over the bar.
Ghana had their first chance of the second half in the 76th minute when John Boye went up for Wakaso's free-kick. The centre-back, however, could not get enough touch on the ball to direct his effort on target.
Moments later, the hosts were almost rewarded when Wendimu wove his way into Ghana's box and fired a low shot but the effort posed little problem for Ofori.
In stoppage time, Okuri went close to halving the deficit but Ofori was on hand to apply a finger-tip to force the ball over.
Ghana will face Kenya in their final game of the qualifiers in March next year. Only the top two teams from the group will secure tickets for Cameroon 2019.
