Ghana 1-2 Cape Verde: Late Rodrigues winner hands Cape Verde shock victory over Black Stars

Garry Rodrigues scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner as the Cape Verde Islands defeated four-time champions Ghana 2-1 in Group B, continuing Sunday's run of unexpected results at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

It was the third match of the day in Abidjan, following Nigeria's draw with Equatorial Guinea in Group A, and Egypt needed a last-minute penalty to draw with Mozambique in the first Group B match at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.

Cape Verde took the lead in the 17th minute when Dutch-born Rodrigues' shot was parried by Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori, allowing Jamiro Monteiro to score from close range.

Ghana thought they had equalised 10 minutes before halftime when Majeed Ashimeru fired a powerful shot into the net from outside Cape Verde's penalty area.

However, after a VAR review, it was ruled out because Ransford Konigsdorffer, who was offside, was found to be interfering by being in the goalkeeper's line of sight.

Konigsdorffer was on his way back after inadvertently striking the upright when Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha punched a clearance at him and cannoned it back towards goal.

Ghana equalized 11 minutes into the second half when Alexander Djiku headed home from Jordan Ayew's corner, bending down to get his head to the ball after the islanders' defence failed to clear an innocuous delivery.

The Black Stars might have gone ahead, with Joseph Paintsil narrowly missing at the back post after being set up by Antoine Semenyo.

However, opportunities continued to present themselves to Cape Verde.

Djiku made a goal-line clearance to deny Bebe 20 minutes from time, and Rodrigues was denied twice in the final 10 minutes.

The breakthrough came in stoppage time when Mohammed Salisu failed to clear, and a clever touch from debutant substitute Gilson Benchimol sent it past Ofori and into Rodrigues' path.

Ghana veteran Dede Ayew came on with 28 minutes remaining to play in his eighth Cup of Nations tournament, equaling the record held by Cameroon's Rigobert Song and Egyptian Ahmed Hassan.

In the previous Group B game, Mohamed Salah saved Egypt's blushes by converting a stoppage-time penalty in a 2-2 draw with Mozambique, who were playing in their first finals since 2010.

Ghana will face Egypt on Thursday, and Cape Verde will play Mozambique on Friday, both at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.

SportsLigue