(MENAFN- Arab Times) MONGOMO Equatorial Guinea Jan 23 (AFP): The returning Asamoah Gyan struck a dramatic stoppage-time winner as Ghana kickstarted their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 1-0 Group C victory against Algeria in Mongomo on Friday. Gyan missed his side's opening 2-1 defeat to Senegal on Monday after contracting a mild bout of malaria but he was brought back into the starting line-up by coach Avram Grant for a must-win encounter against the Algerians and snatched all three points in the second minute of injury time.
His goal lit up what had been a dire contest on a bobbly surface and allowed Ghana to move level with Algeria and Senegal on three points in the group before the Lions of Teranga face pointless South Africa later. Along with the return of talisman Gyan the only other change for the Black Stars at kick-off saw Afriyie Acquah come into the midfield. For Algeria meanwhile Madjid Bougherra came into the centre of the defence and took the captain's armband while Ishak Belfodil was rewarded for an impressive showing from the bench in the win against South Africa with a start at the expense of Islam Slimani who had a foot problem. Nevertheless this was not a game for attacking players with the first half in particular a scrappy affair marred by crunching challenges. Andre Ayew was caught above the ankle from one high tackle while Algeria star Yacine Brahimi was himself the victim of a bruising interception in midfield. The Black Stars sought to take the game to their opponents after the restart and Jordan Ayew dribbled into the box from the left only for his final shot to lack power and cause Rais Mbolhi in goal few problems. Harrison Afful then dug out a cross from the right which was headed across goal and wide by Gyan at the near post before Jordan Ayew flicked a driven ball from his brother Andre just over from close range. Meanwhile Algeria took 66 minutes to really threaten Sofiane Feghouli breaking into the Ghana box from the left and drilling a shot across goal only for the ball to flash wide of the far post. Both sides made changes in an effort to find the breakthrough in the closing stages although Ghana coach Grant opted to leave the clearly tiring Gyan on. And Gyan rewarded his coach with the winner right at the death latching onto a hopeful long ball downfield from Wakasu Mubarak and outpacing Carl Medjani before firing across Mbolhi and into the net from a tight angle. Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of Congo drew 0-0 in an instantly forgettable Africa Cup of Nations Group B match in Ebebiyin. Scoring chances were few during a dreary duel that rivalled the goalless deadlock between hosts Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso for the worst game so far of a generally entertaining tournament. The result left the sides sharing second place two points behind Tunisia and one ahead of Zambia with one series of matches to come next Monday. Tunisia snatched a 2-1 victory over wasteful Zambia in the first match of a double-header with captain Yassine Chikhaoui nodding an 89th-minute winner. Cape Verde shaded a first half that never scaled great heights before a capacity 5000 crowd at Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyin in the north-east Equatoguinean town. Kuca was not far off target with an early angled shot and captain Babanco saw his medium-range free-kick whizz just over the crossbar. DR Congo suffered a serious blow midway through the opening half when captain and West Bromwich Albion midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu came off with a suspected hamstring injury. Issama Mpeko took over as skipper and Nelson Munganga came on for the Leopards who were struggling to put Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha under sustained pressure. Calu had a chance to nudge the islanders ahead just past the half-hour but his powerful header off a free-kick flew straight to veteran Congolese shot-stopper Robert Kidiaba. Kuca was hyper-active in attack for the Blue Sharks and found space on the left flank but when he cut in his shot was blocked by a defender. DR Congo finally threatened in first-half stoppage-time and had their first shot on target which Vozinha saved comfortably from Yannick Bolasie. It was the first glimpse of the pacey Crystal Palace winger who starred in a 1-1 draw with Zambia four days ago. There was less excitement in the second half and rival coches Rui Aguas and Florent Ibenge made substitutions to try and stimulate greater attacking menace. Heldon whose goal earned a 1-1 draw with Tunisia last Sunday but who started on the bench against the Congolese because of a toothache replaced Kuca. And an ineffective Bolasie was pulled off with Chechnya-based Jeremy Bokila coming on. Kidiaba at 38 the oldest player at the 2015 Cup of Nations came to the rescue five minutes from time making two saves in rapid succession after a corner was not cleared. The dreadlocked shot-stopper was the Congolese saviour again soon after blocking a close-range Heldon shot with his chest.
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