Talking points from Ghana’s Unity Cup clash with Nigeria

The Black Stars succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to fierce rivals Nigeria at the G-tech Community Stadium on Wednesday in the semi-finals of the Unity Cup.

An insipid first half saw Ghana completely dominated by the Super Eagles.

Otto Addo’s relative young squad were reeling after the first 45 minutes but to their credit, they got their acts right and gave Nigeria a contest in the second half, with substitute Brandon Thomas-Asante scoring the only goal of the game for Ghana.

Here are some talking points from the game.

Defensive issues linger

Being unable to muster a strong defensive rearguard has been one of the biggest problems in Otto Addo’s second stint.

In competitive games, Ghana has struggled to keep opponents out.

As a matter of fact, the cleansheets in March’s World Cup qualifiers were the first since October 2024.

Once again, it showed on the night at Brentford that the problem could be a systemic one rather than that of personnel.

The positioning of defenders looked questionable. Players struggled to adapt to Otto Addo’s three-back system.

Only Gideon Mensah, who has previously featured in the system, looked comfortable.

The entire backline almost at times stood and stared at each other as to say: what next?

No surprises Ghana put the ball through their own net.

Benjamin Asare not infallible

Hearts of Oak’s goalkeeper, the stopper with the most cleansheets in the Ghana Premier League, is not immune to error.

Prior to the game against Nigeria, he had completed 180 minutes of national team football without blemish.

According to certain schools of thoughts Asare had not been tested enough.

Against the Super Eagles, he was worked throughout the game.

He looked jittery, came off his line one too many times and did not command the backline enough.

He, in equal measure, made some good saves, but better anticipation of crosses and balls could have prevented Simpson’s own goal.

Talent abound

The only positive on the night was looking into the future.

The immediate was horrendous, but what lies ahead looks awesome. Christopher Bonsu Baah perfectly epitomised what ‘wing play’ is for Ghana.

Deadpan direct, sharp, fearless, and tricky.

Ghana’s first attempt at goal was by Baah, who latched onto a loose attempt from Nigeria as they tried to play out from the back in the first-half

Nigeria’s full-backs had a nightmare coming up against him.

Baah was not the only player who glittered on a bleak night.

Caleb Yirenkyi, 19-year-old Nordsjaelland midfielder, had a memorable first outing.

The makeshift full-back, as he was made to fill in, drifted into central areas at times, carried the ball forward with purpose, and proved to be an attacking outlet for Ghana.

His late bursts into the box saw him miss a couple of chances. Ghana have long lacked an all-action midfielder like Yirenkyi for a long time.

He seized his moment and left Ghanaians talking.

Yirenkyi, playing his first professional season, has showed that he’s a warrior, who could be an invaluable assest to Ghana’s renaissance.

The performance of Brandon Thomas-Asante was also refreshing, running after every lost course, making himself a nuisance.

End of season fatigue glaring 

Ghana couldn’t press; there was no hiding that.

They could hardly get close to Nigeria in the first half. The gulf in their attempt was like night and day.

A hard watch for Ghanaians, who had seen so much energy from the Black Stars on the eve of the game, when they danced energetically in the team’s hotel. Maybe too much effort was put in the dancing.

Asante Kotoko’s Kwame Opoku, spearheading Ghana’s attack, could hardly get close to Nigeria’s backline, giving them the freedom of the G-tech to run into and start their attacks.

There was no regimentation when Ghana tried to press. It was flat from back to front.

Nigeria had a field day in the first half, profiting from turnovers and using transitions effectively.

They caught Ghana’s defence on the ball a couple of times and the Black Stars completely looked off the pace of the game.

Some players were coming from long seasons while others hardly got a look in at their clubs.

The post Talking points from Ghana’s Unity Cup clash with Nigeria first appeared on 3News.

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