The Black Stars were largely outplayed by the reigning AFCON champions, with goals from Adam Ounas, Islam Slimani and an own goal from Jonathan Mensah settling the score.
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Algeria 3-0 Ghana: Black Stars outplayed and humiliated in pre-AFCON friendly
Ghana’s preparation for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) started on a poor note following a 3-0 defeat to Algeria in a friendly in Doha.
Algeria 3-0 Ghana: Black Stars outplayed and humiliated in pre-AFCON friendly
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Milovan Rajevac benched some of his regulars, preferring to hand starting spots to his fringe players.
Abdul Manaf Nurudeen was handed a starting spot in post, while the back four was manned by Daniel Amartey, Jonathan Mensah, Alexander Djiku and Gideon Mensah.
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Midfielder Edmund Addo also started his debut game for Ghana after being paired with Thomas Partey in the middle of the park.
Samuel Owusu, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Joseph Paintsil served as the supporting cast for Richmond Boakye Yiadom, who played as the lone striker.
Algeria began the game as the better side and dominated the early exchanges as Ghana struggled to match their intensity.
The Desert Foxes were rewarded for their efforts after just eight minutes when Ounas turned Gideon Mensah inside-out before firing a low shot past Nurudeen at his near-post.
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The second half saw the Black Stars up their game, with Issahaku’s goal-bound curler tipped wide by goalkeeper Raïs M'Bolhi. Ghana continued to chase the equaliser and Paintsil was unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty after being brought down in the box.
It was the North Africans, though, who ended the game on the ascendency after adding two late goals to seal an impressive 3-0 win.
Jonathan Mensah’s unfortunate own goal saw Algeria double their lead before Islam Slimani wrapped up the 3-0 result with a cool tap-in.
The win over Ghana sees the Desert Foxes extend their unbeaten run to 40 matches, with their last defeat coming in September 2019.
Meanwhile, the Black Stars have little time to get their acts together before facing Morocco in their opening group game at the AFCON on January 10.
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