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Mohammed Baba of Black Stars held the ball with his two hands in the 18-yard-box in 77′ minutes of play before Moroccan referee Redouane Jiyed pointed to the penalty spot in a highly tensioned World Cup qualifier match that gave the Super Eagles of Nigeria an opportunity to get a win in Kumasi.
However, VAR ruled out the penalty after a review showed that Kelechi Iheanacho used his leg to drag Baba’s leg away from the ball in the build-up to the wrongly awarded penalty.
Every Ghanaian who watched the replay and final decision must have heaved a sigh of relief, and it is in moment like this VAR will be termed as ‘Almighty’.
Etebo got a yellow card after he made a nuisance of himself by protesting on VAR’s intervention about the penalty that was ruled out. He probably regretted afterwards, as his kneeling down before Moroccan referee as a sign of remorse did not pay-off.
The result ended goalless in Kumasi, and this means both the Black Stars of Ghana and Super Eagles of Nigeria will have to wait till Tuesday in Abuja for the second-leg, to know who will scale through to Qatar.
Ghana had 52% percent ball possession with 3 shots on target while Nigeria had 48% ball possession which recorded 2 shots on target.
Nigeria will host Ghana in the second-leg of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday.
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