The Black Meteors of Ghana suffered a battering at the hands of Morocco in their second group game at the ongoing U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
A dreadful start in both halves saw Ghana end up losing 5-1 to drop to third in Group A after two games played.
The Black Meteors had a horrendous start to the game as they conceded two goals in the opening 14 minutes of the fixture.
The defence went to sleep in the sixth minute after the host nation was awarded a corner kick. They took it short before Abdessamad Ezzalzouli set up Amir Richardson for the game’s opener.
Ismael Salibari made it two on the 14th-minute mark with the Ghanaian defence caught ball watching again. The number eight-shirted man exchanged a pass with Yanis Begraoui and latched onto the final one, lofting the ball over Danland Ibrahim.
Begraoui then finished off a well-worked team goal in the 29th minute to make it 3-0 and put the game beyond the reach of Ghana.
However, Ibrahim Tanko’s side pulled one back through Salim Adams, who struck from the rebound after Abdul Fatawu Issahaku’s first effort was blocked.
The Sporting CP forward could have had his name on the scoresheet just a minute later but his goal was ruled after the ball was adjudged to have gone out of play.
The recess provided an opportunity for Ghana to restructure but they fell behind immediately after the break; this time Ezzalzouli struck into the net after a failed clearance by Terry Yegbe.
But the lead was extended immediately as they capitalised on a failed corner kick attempt from Ghana, surging forward in a two-on-one situation before Ezzalzouli put Begraoui through on goal, going on to score his second of the night to make it 5-1.
Zubairu Ibrahim should have made it 5-2 in the dying embers of the game after being teed up by Ernest Nuamah but the Serbian-based forward’s effort clipped the far post.
Morocco had a sixth ruled out for offside in additional time as the game ended 5-1.
Ghana will face Guinea in their last group game knowing that anything aside from a win will see them exit the competition and end their hopes of securing a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris