Gabon struck late to salvage a 1-1 draw with Ghana in their second Group C match on Friday evening.
The ‘Black Stars’ led for over 70 minutes until Jim Allevinah’s late strike broke their hearts in Yaoundé.
The Panthers started the match with great intensity and dominated the opening exchanges. The Central African practically lived in Ghana’s half in the first ten minutes.
However Coach Milovan Rajevac’s men slowly warmed their way into the rhythm of the game and began to assert themselves especially in midfield.
Ghana’s spell of dominance was rewarded in the 18th minute when Andre Ayew scored an absolute belter to give his side the lead at halftime.
The Black Stars skipper becomes the Ghanaian to score 10 goals in history of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ayew also joined the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Asamoah Gyan as players to have netted in 6 consecutive AFCON finals.
The second half was a rather cagey affair with both teams caving out a couple of chances.
Gabon grew into the game as the half progressed, but weren’t able to frequently test Wollacott in the opposition goal.
Allevinah had been a bright spark since coming off the bench and showed his quality to find an equaliser in the dying embers.
Ghana were caught cold from a free-kick and the substitute took full advantage, shifting the ball onto his left foot before firing past Wollacott.
The result meant that Gabon are on the brink of qualification while Ghana will need nothing but a victory in their last game against Comoros to stand any chances of making it to the next round.
