By Dom Agbakpe,

Ghana battled back from a goal down to beat Benin 3-1 in the first leg of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Black Satellites started the game brightly in the opening minutes and carved out some decent chances but failed to put them away.

Azam FC’s Enoch Attah Adjei had a chance to put the host infront after beating the offside trap but his shot was saved by the Benin goalkeeper. However, he could not make good use of the rebound as it was eventually cleared by the defence.

Forward Allagbani Saliou broke deadlock in the 28th minutes to give the young squirrels of Benin 1-0 lead.

After going down, the homers put the visitors under intense pressure in search for an equalizer but the defence men of Benin stood resolute as the Algerian referee blew his whistle to bring the first period to a close.

Elvis Kyei Baffour, three minutes after coming on, had a golden opportunity to put Ghana back on level terms but Abiola Katchon produced a terrific save to deny him.

WAFA forward, Richard Danso’s terrific drive took a wicked deflection to pull parity for Ghana the 59th minutes before captain Issahaku Konda making 2-1 in the 72nd minutes from a corner.

Danso got his brace of the afternoon and Black Satellite’s third after hitting a beautiful curler pass the Beninoise goalkeeper.

A positive result in the reverse fixture in Cotonou next weekend will see the two-time champion join seven other nations for the 2019 African Cup of Nation in Niger.

The Black Satellites are hoping to make a return to the continental championship after failing to qualify for the last edition in 2017.

At their last appearances in Senegal in 2015, they finished third behind winners Nigeria and host.