Ghana battered Burkina Faso 5-1 in the first leg of the final round qualifier of the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations on Sunday at the new Cape Coast stadium.
Eric Ayiah scored a superb brace for the Black Starlets as they made light work of their Burkinabe counterparts to head into the second leg assured of qualification to next year’s showpiece in Madagascar.
Ghana, in spite of dominating and creating loads of chances, came from a surprised goal down to end the first half with a 2-1 lead.
Burkina Faso against the run of play stun Ghana by opening the scoring but the Starlets responded positively and found the equaliser.
The constant pressure from the young lads finally paid off – as Emmanuel Opoku restored parity with a neat strike.
The Starlets pressed more and were rewarded with the second goal. Eric Ayiah slotted home much to the delight of fans present.
Ghana continued from where they left off in the first department as Eric Ayiah doubled his tally by fetching the third goal right after kick off.
Isaac Antah capitalized on a defensive blunder to make it 4-1 for the Black Starlets.
And with few minutes to end the game, Nathaniel Opoku added his name to the score sheet – as he scored the fifth goal.
The National U-17 male team will travel to Burkina Faso in a fortnight for the second leg.
