Ghana made it a 4-1 aggregate win over Mozambique after scoring twice without reply in the second leg of their Morocco 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying second-round tie in Kumasi Sunday afternoon.
The first leg in Maputo exactly a week ago ended 2-1 in favour of the Black Meteors.
2023 U-23 AfconQ: Afriyie Barnieh’s penalty brace gives Ghana first-leg edge over Mozambique
And coach Ibrahim Tanko’s men rounded up the tie with quite a hard-fought win at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
It took Meteors first-half stoppage time to finally score with the goal coming through diminutive attacker Sylvester Simba who struck home with his left foot.
Simba was instrumental for the hosts early in the second half as he won a penalty after going past his markers into the box.
Captain Daniel Afriyie Barnieh stepped up and converted the spot-kick on 54 minutes – his third in this tie.
Mozambique came into the game for most parts of the second half but could not make use of their chances.
No goal was further produced with the tie ending 4-1 after the two legs.
Ghana thus advance to the final qualifying round awaiting the winner of the tie between DR Congo and Algeria. The final round is scheduled to be cleared in March 2023.
The Morocco 2023 U-23 Afcon would serve as a qualifying tournament for football at Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Seven (7) nations will qualify to join hosts Morocco for the 4th edition of the U-23 Afcon in June 2023.
