The Black Queens of Ghana slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of South Africa in their opening match at the maiden Aisha Buhari Cup tournament in Nigeria Friday afternoon.
Banyana Banyana secured this victory at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos through goals from Hilda Magaia, Thembi Kgatlana and Sibulele Holweni.
South Africa could have taken the lead after seven minutes but Magaia was denied the goal by alert Ghana defender Ellen Coleman, who recovered in the nick of time to clear the ball off the line.
Banyana launched another attack through star Kgatlana who watched in disbelief as her goal-bound effort bounced off Black Queens goalkeeper Dumehasi Fafali and onto the crossbar.
Luckily the ball fell into the path of alert striker Magaia who had the easy task of guiding it into the empty net after she found herself unmarked in the penalty box in the 18th minute.
Ghana started attacking South Africa at regular intervals and were almost rewarded with the equalizer a few minutes later when Grace Asantewaa was denied by Banyana goalkeeper Kaylin Swart, who had come off her line.
On the stroke of halftime, Swart was equal to the task to a long-range shot from Sonia Opoku and SA reacted swiftly with a quick counterattack that saw Gabriella Salgado denied by the crossbar at the other end of the field.
Banyana increased their lead in the 53rd minute through Atletico Madrid of Spain’s Kgatlana when she beat hapless Ghanaian defender Coleman before rounding goalkeeper Fafali to find the back of the net.
South Africa put the match beyond doubt on 83 minutes when diminutive defender Sibulele Holweni found herself unmarked in the box to perfectly head home a well-taken corner kick.
Ghana’s Black Queens will take on Cameroon in their next game on Monday, September 20 while Banyana Banyana face hosts Nigeria on Tuesday.
