Ghana recorded a 1-1 draw away to the Central African Republic in their second match of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at the Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda, Angola on Sunday.
Central African Republic are playing all their home matches in Luanda after African football governing body Caf deemed all their stadiums unsuitable to host international fixtures.
Mohammed Kudus started from where he left off in the opening match of the qualifiers on Wednesday when he opened the scoring for Ghana in the 17th minute following a neat exchange of passes on the right side of the Black Stars attack.
The Ajax midfielder struck a low shot just outside the box with his left foot which beat Aladun Kolimba in the Central African Republic goal.
Ghana then camped in their opponents’ box in search of a second goal but instead found themselves on the back foot four minutes to half-time when Karl Namnganda beat their high defensive line to slot in the equaliser after being put through by Brad Thomas Pirioua.
Ghana coach Otto Addo had made seven changes to the side that beat Madagascar 3-0 at the Cape Coast Stadium on Wednesday.
With the Ayew brothers of Jordan and Andre dropped to the bench, Addo went for Genk forward Joseph Paintsil and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh of St Pauli to partner AS Roma teenager Felix Afena-Gyan in the attack.
Kudus was the only survivor in midfield after Edmund Addo and Osman Bukari, scorer of Ghana’s third goal on Wednesday, were preferred over Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Iddrisu Baba Mohammed.
At the back, Addo went for St Gallen goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi in place of Joe Wollacott while Bordeaux full-back Gideon Mensah returned to left-back after starring in central defence on Wednesday as Jonathan Mensah was brought in to partner Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey at centre-back.
The first half yielded only one shot on target for either side with Ghana having the lion’s share of possession 68 per cent.
Both teams started slowly after the break and 10 minutes later, Ghana received a blow when Jonathan Mensah was stretched off and taken straight into the ambulance following a clash of heads with CAR’s Peter Guinari while defending a corner.
The incident led to a five-minute stoppage as both players received treatment on the pitch and while neither could manage to continue, the Ghanaian came off worse.
Addo responded with a triple substitution of Kamaldeen Sulemana, Fatawu and Baba Iddrisu replacing Mensah with Paintsil and Bukari also coming off but the changes did not yield much as their opponents held on to draw the match.
The result leaves Ghana top of Group E with four points same as Angola, who have an inferior goal difference, following their 1-1 draw away to Madagascar on Sunday.
Ghana’s next competitive fixture will be in September when they face Angola home and away in the 2023 Afcon qualifiers but they have lined up friendly matches in the Kirin Cup later this month.
