Amidst the festive mood of Diwali, the crowd in Navi Mumbai witnessed an all-African battle as Ghana and Niger met for the Round of 16 face-off on Wednesday evening as the former reigned supreme by a 2-0 margin.
A penalty-kick from skipper Eric Ayiah (45+4′ Pen.) and a second goal in the dying moments by Richard Danso (90′) were enough to get the better of the West Africans.
It was in the added time of the initial half as Fabin Samuel’s junior boys got the much-needed lead as skipper Eric Ayiah scored from the penalty spot following an offensive challenge by Niger defender Farouk Idrissa.
The two teams walked off at the half-time mark with two-time U17 World Cup champions Ghana enjoying the one-goal cushion.
In the 86th minute, Ghana were gifted another penalty-kick following Farouk Idrissa’s challenge inside the penalty area. However, captain Ayiah failed to convert the opportunity this time as his right footed shot was saved in the top right corner.
Just three minutes after this, Ghana scored the second goal and sealed their berth in the quarterfinal as Richard Danso’s shot from outside the box barged into the top right corner.
