Ghana failed to open their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a win as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Benin in Ismailia on Tuesday evening.
Mickael Pote gave Benin a shock lead after two minutes but Black Stars captain Andre Ayew restored parity.
His younger brother Jordan fired Ghana ahead, but Pote earned the Squirrels a point after John Boye was dismissed for a second yellow card.
Here are Joy Sports player ratings:
Richard Ofori – 4.5
He could have prevented the second goal and didn’t seem to have control of his defence.
Andy Yiadom – 5.5
Looked very energetic on the right flank and offered width in attack but has to improve defensively.
Lumor Agbeyenu – 4.5
Struggled to keep up with Pote throughout the first half and was at fault for the first goal.
John Boye – 1
An unnecessary first yellow card. An even more unnecessary second yellow card. He cost Ghana the game.
Kasim Nuhu – 5.5
Looked out of sorts parts of the game but he provided the assist for Jordan’s goal.
Mubarak Wakaso 5.5
A lot of misplaced forward passes from the Alaves man. However, he put in a shift and made more recoveries in the second half.
Thomas Partey – 5.5
Kept it simple and got more involved in the second half but a lot more is expected from him.
Thomas Agyepong – 3
Made a couple of driving runs early in the game but was forced off early due to injury.
Christian Atsu – 3.5
For a player of his calibre, he was expected to demand the ball more often and influence the game more. Unfortunately, not his best day.
Andre Ayew (c) – 6.5
Had a fantastic first half as he kept on finding spaces between the midfield and defence of Benin. In the second, the captain put in a shift and helped defensively.
Jordan Ayew – 7
Man of the match for Ghana. Worked hard for the first goal and scored a beautiful second goal for Ghana. He won a lot of free-kicks and slowed the game down for Ghana in the second half after going a man down.
Samuel Owusu – 2
The worst possible competitive debut for the winger but it was due to unfortunate circumstances as he only played for 24 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Jonathan Mensah – 3
Calmed down the defence after his introduction but he almost gave away a goal in the dying minutes as he left Mounie unmarked.
Afriyie Acquah – N/A
Source: Myjoyonline.com
