AFCON 2021: A late goal from substitute Allevinah keeps the Panthers at second place, fist punches traded after the final whistle

The Black Stars are on the brink. And it did not seem so until late in their clash against Gabon as part of AFCON group C - final score 1-1 at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde.

Apart from the goals, the chances and all things sport related - Algerian referee Lahlou Benbraham had to keep an eye on the drama that came late during the match and after it.

Salim Ben Boina plays amateur football in France and shines in the AFCON in his spare time

Let's start from the 'top'. Milovan Rajevac’s side were under real pressure to stay in the competition after suffered defeat to Morocco in their opening fixture. And the opening minutes of tonight's match did not look too optimistic for the Black Stars - however after a slow start of the match, their captain Andre Ayew steped up and put his squad ahead.

Al-Sadd forward received the ball with Anthony Oyono tightly marking him, but the 32-year-old easily got rid of his marksman after a sharp turn before unleashing a long-range effort. Ayew's low shot found the bottom corner of Joe Wollacott's net.

That was Ayew’s 10th goal at AFCON tournaments, more than any other Ghana footballer.

Gabonese players seemed a bit lost and without a clear plan on how to get back in the match. Also, staggering committed 27 fouls made it hard for both team to find some flows in their attacking plays. The Panthers struggled to provide any attacking threat in a disjointed first-half.

After the half-time break, the situation was pretty similar for Patrice Neveu’s team. Their best chance of the contest falling on the hour mark - a long ball from defence evaded the Ghana backline and ended up with later crucial substitute Jim Allevinah. Clermont midfielder tried with a tap-in but Wollacott reaction was enough to keep the Black Stars in front.

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As the second half progressed Gabon grew into the game. But even though the Gabonese weren’t able to frequently test Wollacott in the opposition goal - they managed to level the score. Allevinah had been a bright spark since coming off the bench and showed his quality to find the net in the closing minutes.

Allevinah took full advantage after catching the Ghanaians off guard following a free kick. The 26-year-old propelled the ball low with his left foot to equalise.

The Black Stars could not make their peace with the conceded goal, especially Benjamin Tetteh who received a post-full-time red card for violent conduct.

Ghana captain Andre Ayew was constantly in referee's face after the goal scored by the Gabonese and the French coach of the Panthers also added some fuel to the fire on the sidelines. It all escalated when Tetteh could not control himself in a scuffle and landed a punch in the face of Aaron Boupendza.

Ghana need to beat Comoros in the last match of the group stage to give themselves a fighting chance while Gabon look very likely to progress to the knockout stages.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Group C

Friday

Morocco - Comoros 2-0 (1-0)

/Amallah 19, Aboukhlal 89/

Gabon - Ghana 1-1 (0-1)

/Allevinah 88 - Ayew 19/