Ghana remains winless in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after two games following Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Egypt.
The Black Stars had a good chance to move to the top of Group B but were undone by defensive blunders against the Pharaohs.
Mohammed Kudus seemed destined to give Ghana all three points after passing a late fitness test to be named in the starting line-up.
And despite scoring a double, the West Ham star’s efforts were not enough as Egypt twice came back from a goal down to salvage a draw, thanks to goals from Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed.
Having lost their opening game to Cape Verde, Chris Hughton made three changes to his starting line-up for the encounter against Egypt.
Kudus, Inaki Williams, and Abdul Salis Samed replaced Baba Iddrisu, Joseph Paintsil, and Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer in the starting line-up.
Richard Ofori, however, retained his position between the sticks, with the back four made up of Denis Odoi, Gideon Mensah, Mohammed Salisu, and Alexander Djiku
Salis Samed also returned to anchor the defensive midfield position, while Majeed Ashimeru once again started as the box-to-box midfielder.
In attack, Inaki Williams and Jordan Ayew played on the flanks, with Kudus playing right behind the main striker Antoine Semenyo.
Ghana made a great start to the game and won most of the 50/50 balls, although chances were few and far between both teams.
The game, however, sparked into life late in the first half when Kudus scored from a long-range strike, just minutes after Mohamed Salah had limped off for Egypt.
The West Ham star received a pass on the edge of the box from Salis Samed, drifted the ball to his left to create a bit of space, and fired a thunderous shot into the net.
The goal gave Ghana a slender lead at half time, but Egypt hit back after the break when Marmoush took advantage of a poor back pass by Williams to restore parity.
However, two minutes later, the Black Stars took the lead again, with Kudus netting his second of the night with a curling effort that found the back of the net via a slight deflection.
There was room for one more goal, though, as the Pharaohs grabbed the equaliser through Mohamed following another mistake at the back by substitute Osman Bukari.
The result leaves Ghana rooted at the bottom of Group B after two matches, and now they need to beat Mozambique in their final group game to advance to the round of 16.
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