Corner to Ghana. Wakasos delivery is decent but its headed clear at the near post and then .... the ref blows for another foul. Free out.
Action! Wakaso stepped up to swing in a freekick from 35 yards and slipped as he did so ... but that seemed to improve his accuracy. Badu, of whom we have seen little so r, leaped to prominence on the 1penalty spot and directed a powerful header past the goalkeeper .... and against the outside of the post!
Aye, aye: action! Thats a bright start to the half from the men in yellow. Keita loped forward and clipped a deft ball into the danger zone, where Diabat narrowly iled to collect. I can now reveal, by the weay, that Maiga replaced Diarra.
RIght on cue, Gyan gets a pass to feet and, despite Tambouras attempt to tear his shorts off, manages to get in a shot from 16 yards. Its deflected behind for a corner, which is subsequently cleared by Samassa.
Mali: 1-Mamadou Samassa; 2-Fousseiny Diawara, 3-Adama Tamboura, 4-Adama Coulibaly, 21-Mahamadou Ndiaye; 6-Momo Sissoko, 20-Sambia Diakite, 12-Seydou Keita, 17-Mahamane Traore; 11-Sigamary Diarra, 9-Cheick Tidiane Diabate
The onus is on Ghana to generate chances here but so r theyve look ponderous and, to be frank, little of interest has happened. Well soon get to the stage where spectators might have to hope for some ballboy-related hijinks for entertainment.
Daouda goes down after plucking the ball from in front of Diabat. He writhes and wriggles as if to convey the notion that he is grievously injured. Ill be surprised if he really is.
Afful, having sussed that no one around him has come up with a better idea, decides to have a shot from 25 yards. Into the empty stands it sails.
Ghana ping some crisp passes around as Mali lumber after them. But that bout of good play comes to an end when Badu booms the ball over the bar from 25 yards. So r, the only shot on target in the game was the converted penalty.
Referee: Noumandiez Doue (Ivory Coast).
Diabat shunts Afful to the ground around half-way. Little else has happened since we last spoke.
A well struck freekick from Badu heads towards the bottom corner. Samassa pushes it around the post and then claims the corner ... and then roars at Badu for daring to challenge him. Get on with it!
Corner to Mali. if Ghana let this slip, theyll only have themselves to blame. They have lacked initiative throughout. As it turns out, the corner gave rise to nothing more dangerous than a kerfuffle in the box, followed by a player in yellow bogging the ball away off target.
Admoah fires a useful cross from the right into the six-yard box, but Gyan had halted his run so wasnt there to profit.
Atsu, who has just come on as a sub, curls a nice corner into the box. Vorsah rises well but heads badly over.
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Keita clumps the ball into the penalty area from a freekick on the left. Pantsil heads clear. Mali have really suffered from a lack of imagination. And accuracy.
Ndiaye becoems the latest player to go into the book. Really has been too many fouls in this fractured game. Admoah takes the freekick from the right and Samassa punches it away.
This really is torpid. Coulibaly becoems the latest recipient of a yellow but the game has been grey.
NickCavell BBCAfrica (@BBC_NickCavell) January 24, 2013
Mali kick off, resplendent in yellow. QPR ns may be interested to note that Samba Diakit has been added to their side since their opening day victory over Niger. And he hasnt fouled anyone yet.
Atsu attempts to make something happen. He steams down the left and ils to get his cross past the first man.
Mali have shown nothing so r to suggest they can get back into this. Ndiaye, mind you, is currently performing some world class acting as he tries to get Asamoah into trouble after the midfielder inadvertently catches him lightly with an arm as they challenged for the ball.
Its been boring. But at least the right time are in front: the modicum of inspiration we have seen has come from Ghana, who have also been more dynamic than the pedestrian Malians. Patrice Carteron needs to be bolder or his team are just going to trudge to an uneventful defeat.
Mali, wisely, have made a change: West Hams Modibo Maiga is on. I cant tell you yet who came off. Not because its a secret whose disclosure would necessitate killing you or anything, just because I dont know.
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Dreadful set-pieces deliveries have been a general feature of this tournament, and Wakaso has just produced one of the worst of the genre.
A Mali freekick from deep provokes panic in the Ghana box but after a bit of pingpong they manage to hoof the ball away.
Vorsah goofs in the left-back position but Maiga, having stripped him off the ball, botches his cross. Moments later Sissoko swings in a decent ball from the right and Diabat, having escaped the attentions of the defence, tonks the ball out of play whilst attempting to trap it. Sake.
You join us as each side is paying homage to their national anthem and, if you want my opinion, Mali have the edge on that front, with their tune being a purposeful, strident number that tells you youre dealing with people wholl brook no guff. Thats pretty much how their team plays too. Ghana, well, who knows how theyll play? The line-up below may not show it, but word is Kwadwo Asamoah, the skillful Juventus midfield, is again to be deployed at left-back, as he was in the first game, leaving the Black Stars with a gaping creativity void in the middle. This is a game they could do with winning and simply must not lose if they are to avoid an embarrassing first-round exit.
Ghana are losing shape and perhaps even energy: Mali are grinding their way back into this. Any minute now they may have a shot on target.
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A mix-up in the Ghanaian defence as Boye leaves t he ball for Dauda, who handles out his box. The ref decides against showing him a red card, settling for a yellow, much to the relief of the keeper. Freekick to Mali from 18 yards. Ghana erect a nine-man wall.
Diabat tries to trick his way past Afful but has to settle for a corner. Diarras delivery can be added to the burgeoning collection of set-piece dross. Theyre really not this an easy watch.
Dauda has been excellent on dealing with crosses today. Hes just claimed another Traor corner, aborting what is likely Malis best chance of scrounging an equaliser.
Badu goes for multiple rolls after a rough tackle by Ndiaye, whos one of countless players already on a yellow. The ref decides against giving him another one.
Just spotted two Ghana ns parading a mocked up coffin with Mali on it around the stadium here in the stadium still goalless BBCAfcon
Gyan vowed pre-tournament not to take any penalties so the task lls to Wakaso. He executes it perfectly, driving a left-footed shot into the corner past the keeper, who went the right way. Wakaso then gets booked for raising his short - without actually removing it. Seems harsh from a ref who doesnt expel keepers for stopping a clear goalscoring chance by handling outside the area. Wakaso will now miss the next game.
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Diarra lumps a freekick into the box but its misguided and Ghana easily clear. No pattern to proceedings as yet, lots of mid-paced huff and puff.
Gyan, all on his lonesome up front,education fund. has got no change out of the Malian centrebacks so r, mainly because the passing towards him is aimless and playing into the hands, or rather the heads, of the defence.
Strong running by Admoah down the right, followed by a perfectly acceptable cross to the near post. Diawara beast Gyan to it.
There are very few people rattling around the cavernous stadium in Port Elisabeth - hows that for a World Cup legacy, eh? - but it appears that there are at least a couple of laudable funsters:
That was woeful match. Difficult, difficult viewing. Little creativity or precision, lots of fouls. But the win is precious for Ghana and puts them at the top of Group B, pending tonights game between DR Congo and Niger. With Niger Ghanas last opponents, the Black Stars should reach the quarter-finals. Mali need to improve to bother DR Congo.
What ill wind has been blowing around African dressing rooms in the last 12 months? One of the features of last years tournament was the honesty of the players,adult learning manchester Ep 1425 Buzz Out Loud does SXSW. which contrasted so pleasantly with what we regularly see in European matches. But so r in this tournament playacting and related chicanery have been rampant. Its annoying.
Samba Diakit earns his customary yellow card. Wakaso curls the resultant fGhana v Mali Africa Cup of Nations as it happened Paul Doyle_ 1reekick over the bar from 25 yards.
After a lovely turn and pass from Gyan, Badu was brought down in the box by Tamboura, author of a ridiculous challenge.
Asante goes quite close with his first touch! Naturally, the chance was not created by a flowing move, rather a defender goofed and coughed up the ball to the new striker, who let fly from 25 yards. It was a half-decent effort that flunked a few yards wide.
Ghana: 16-Fatau Dauda; 4-John Pantsil, 15-Isaac Vorsah, 21-John Boye, 23-Harrison Afful; 8-Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, 10-Albert Adomah, 11-Rabiu Mohammed, 20-Kwadwo Asamoah; 22-Mubarak Wakaso, 3-Asamoah Gyan
Diawara canters down the right and swings in a good cross that Boye nods out for a corner. Daouda comes to collect .... but this time completely misses it. Luckily for him, no Malian was able to retrieve it and punish him.
Asamoah,Essay Writing And Essay Services For College Students Who Require Assist With Essays And Projects. you may or may not care to know, appears to be playing in midfield, after all. But hes not getting much of the ball, as the game remains scrappy.
Asamoah is starting to get a little more involved in forward positions for Ghana, and Afful is doing his best to provide options down the left. If he could the provision of decent crosses to his repertoire, we might get something approximating an attack.
Traor seemed to be shaping to shoot, but Keita took everyone by surprise and sneaked a foxy low curler around the wall ... and just past the post!
