Ghana’s Black Maidens inched closer to making it to the quarter-final of the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after a 3-1 win over Finland on Friday.
The Maidens scooped maximum points, having won their opening game 5-0 against the hosts, Uruguay.
But they had to tire for the second win in the tournament despite beginning brightly.
Goal poachers Millot Abena Pokua and Mukarama Abdulai combined upfront to give the West Africans two goals after just a quarter-of-an-hour played.
Pokua slotted home a cross in the sixth minute for her second goal of the tournament.
Seven minutes later, she made an audacious run on the right flank to send a cross in for her strike partner Mukarama.
The captain of the side connected with her calculated header to give the Maidens their second goal in the 16th minute as she also extended her lead in the hunt for the Golden Boot.
But after the break, the Finns fought hard to make their dominant possession count.
And it did with a quarter-of-an-hour of play to go.
Maidens’ goalkeeper Grace Boadu failed to handle Annika Huhta’s shot as substitute Jenni Kantanen capitalised on the rebound.
That goal – their first ever in the tournament’s history – buoyed the Europeans into getting an equaliser.
But their spirits were dampened when goalkeeper Anna Koivunen failed to handle Grace Animah’s freekick in the 86th minute.
At the blast of the referees’ whistle, the Maidens found themselves on the happy side while the Finns were all tears.
They play hosts Uruguay next while the Ghanaians take on New Zealand in the final group game on Tuesday.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana