The Black Stars of Ghana were held to a 1-1 draw by the Red Devils of Congo to dent any hopes of qualifying for the FIFA world Cup in Russia, 2018.
The Congolese pounced on an error from right back Joseph Attamah in the box before striker Thievy Bifouma calmly placed the ball pass goalkeeper Richard Ofori in the seventh minute.
However, with five minutes Athletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey got the equalizer for Ghana.
Congo, having arrived in Ghana last night did not show any signs of travelling fatigue as they were composed despite the early waves of attack from the Black Stars.
Ghana nearly got the opener in the in the 12th minute after a period of momentary dominance when Thomas Partey had a powerful left foot strike parried by the Congolese goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, the Congolese attackers of F. Dore and Thievy Bifouma were a handful for Dniel Amartey and Joseph Attamah leading to a collision between the Leicester defender and goalkeeper Richard Ofori, after Bifouma had race through the players following a pass from Dore.
That was the first real threat from the Congolese which seemed to have raised the nerves in the Black Stars back line. It didn't take too long as Turkey based defender Joseph Larweh erroneously let the ball slip of him, only to reach Congolese winger Dore who laid the ball to Bifouma to slot in.
the Black Stars created a couple of chances afterwards with Asamoah Gyan's freekick almost getting the equaliser.
A series of corner kicks followed but the tall defensive line of Congo managed to deal with it properly.
the teams went into the break with the Congolese with their heads high.
Ghana returned in the second half stronger, chasing for an equalizer but then left the back exposed again, as the Congolese nearly got a second but Richard Ofori came to the rescue.
Coach Kwasi Appiah made his first substitution when he pulled out Captain Asamoah Gyan for Thomas Agyepong.
Few minutes later Ghana,s most liveliest player on the pitch Christian Atsu nearly got the equalizer only for his feeble shot to be collect by the Congolese shot stopper.
Andre Ayew had to make way for U.S based Kwadwo Poku.
Appiah's substitutions looked to have brought some energy as Thomas Agyepong's runs on the left saw him creat a chance for Jordan Ayew who only had the keeper to beat but fluffed off his chances.
After waves of attack, Harrison Afull had the ball on the right, gave it to Christian Atsu whose defense spliting pass found Partey in the box who lashed on one time to grab the equalizer.
Moments after the equalizer, Thomas Agyepong on the left outpaced two defenders in the box, only for his shot to skew diagonally.
The youngster had another glorious opportunity to make it two but could not direct his shot.
The Black Stars could not take advantage of Egypt's defeat on Thursday and are likely to miss out on Russia 2018.
By Lukman Evergreen Mumin