Goli Innocent Garry Rodrigues scored a stoppage-time winner as Cape Verde beat Chris Hughton’s four-time AFCON winners Ghana 2-1 to go top of Group B in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Rodrigues gave his team a well-earned win in Abidjan by taking advantage of a blunder in the Ghanaian defenders and tapping the ball into an empty net.
Ten minutes into the second half, Alexander Djiku’s header brought Ghana back to parity after Jamiro Monteiro’s goal in the 17th minute had been disallowed by the VAR.
Before substitute Rodrigues scored the game’s winning goal at the last second, Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Ofori produced two crucial saves.
It was another disappointing result for the Black Stars, who last won the title in 1982 and failed to get out of the group stages in 2021.
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Hughton’s side were without West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus due to injury but it was defensive lapses which proved costly and Monteiro was left with a simple tap-in to open the scoring after Ofori palmed a shot from Jovane Cabral straight into his path.
Ghana thought they had equalised in the 36th minute when Majeed Ashimeru rifled a superb long-range strike into the bottom corner, only for it to be ruled out following a lengthy VAR check.
Referee Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo eventually decided that Ransford Konigsdorffer, who had unwittingly hit the post moments earlier when the ball was palmed onto his head by Vozinha, was blocking the view of the goalkeeper inside the area.
Djiku did equalise in the 56th minute as he headed home Jordan Ayew’s corner and the defender also produced a vital block at the other end from Bebe’s scuffed shot.
But just as the game looked set to end in a draw, Gilson Benchimol took advantage of a blunder from Mohammed Salisu to nip in front of Ofori and set up Rodrigues for the easiest of winners.
