Ghana will remain top of Group F in 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after Ethiopia posted a 1-0 win over Sierra Leone in Addis Ababa on Sunday.
The Black Stars, who shockingly were beaten by Kenya yesterday, would have lost top spot had Sierra Leone made it two straight wins by beating Ethiopia.
Playing in front of their home crowd, Ethiopia certainly controlled the flow of play and dictated terms but their decision making in the final third was poor.
Consequently, despite having the lion’s share of possession, Ethiopia had very few decent scoring chances.
Nonetheless, the home side continued to push forward and were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty kick in the 35th minute which Getaneh Kebede converted with confidence, 1-0.
Sierra Leone tried to fight back before the break but entered the halftime tunnel trailing by a goal.
Ethiopia came out firing in the second half, but their shooting in front of goal was poor and they failed to add to their goal tally.
Luckily, for the home side, Sierra Leone offered very little in terms of attack and suffered their first loss of the 2019 Afcon qualifying campaign.
The result, combined with Ghana’s 1-0 defeat to Kenya in Group F’s other game on Saturday, sees Ethiopia move off the bottom of the standings.
Ghana top Group F with three points from two matches while Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Kenya are second third and fourth respectively with three points each.