CHAN: Ghana beat Nigeria to reach final

Ten-man Ghana advanced to the final of the African Nations Championship after beating arch-rivals Nigeria 4-1 on penalties on Wednesday.

Ghana held off a Nigeria onslaught for over an hour at Free State Stadium after suffering a setback in the 64th minutes when defender Kwabena Adusei was sent off for a second booking following a foul on striker Abubakar Ibrahim in a bruising West Africa semifinal derby.

Nigeria were guilty of poor finishing throughout the 120 minutes and it came back to haunt them in the shoot-out when their star man Christantus Ejike converted the Super Eagles’ solitary penalty.

Ghana goalkeeper Stephen Adams who limped through extra time with a groin injury was the Black Stars hero, saving Solomon Kwambe’s spot kick before Ugonna Uzochukwu missed his penalty to extinguish Nigeria’s hopes of a continental double after last year’s AFCON triumph.

Meanwhile, Ghana sailed through to their first final since 2009 thanks to successful spot kicks taken by Michael Akuffo, Theohilus Anobaah, Samuel Ainooson and the clincher from Abraham Attobrah.

Ghana face Libya on February 1 in the final in Cape Town after the latter also went through after beating Zimbabwe on post-match penalties to reach their debut CHAN final.