Ghana beat Mauritius to reach Gabon

Second half strikes from Andre Ayew and Christian Atsu were enough earn Ghana a 2-0 win over Mauritius on Sunday in Belle Vue to confirm their place at next year’s finals in Gabon.

The Black Stars thus becomes the seventh team after hosts Gabon, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt and Senegal to book their tickets to next year’s gathering in Gabon.

The victory takes Ghana’s tally at the summit of Group H to 13 points, seven more than Rwanda and Mauritius, who have no chances of catching up with just a game remaining. Mozambique rests at the bottom with four points.

Ghana maintained their record of having participated at every edition of the biennial championship since 2006, but had to sweat for the maximum points against a Mauritius side that fought from the start till the end.

After countless unsuccessful attempts at goal, the visitors finally found their breakthrough through captain Ayew on 70 minutes, who slammed home from a cross on the left from Baba Abdul Rahman after a mix up by the Mauritius backline.

Three minutes on, Rahman was at his best again laying a cross that Atsu connected for the goal that took the game beyond the host.