Black Stars’ Qatar 2022 World Cup qualification hopes suffer major setback after Ethiopia draw

Ghana were held to a 1-1 draw by the Walias of Ethiopia in the penultimate 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

The Black Stars started the game on the front foot and nearly stung gold in the opening minutes of the game, goalkeeper Teklemariam Shanko pulled off two great saves to deny Andre Ayew and Richmond Boakye-Yiadom.

Ghana continued to control the game and were rewarded with the first goal in the 22nd minute, Andre Ayew curled in a free-kick from just outside the box.

Minutes later, Ghana nearly doubled their lead through Kamaldeen Sulemana, the French Ligue player of the month for October danced his way into the Ethiopia defense but his final effort was a bit high.

The Ethiopians controlled the remaining minutes of the first half, forcing the Ghana midfield and back line into making mistakes. However, they failed to capitalize those mistakes.

Ghana continued to make mistakes in the opening minutes of the second half and were nearly pegged back in the 57th minute, Shemeles Bekele struck the post after robbing Mohammed Kudus off the ball.

The Black Stars were pegged back in the 72nd minute. The Ethiopians this time capitalized on an error by Joseph Aidoo to score through Getaneh Kebede.

Ghana in the remaining minutes made changes with the hope of getting the winner but to no avail.