Ghana defender John Boye received his matching order after a second yellow card for time wasting in the 54th minute, when Ghana was leading by 2:1.

A goal each from Ghana captain Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew saw the Black Stars of Ghana opening their 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign with a draw against the Squirrels of Benin.

Ayew, who won the man of the match accolade for his performance that saw him score Ghana’s second goal and providing an assist for the first noted that Ghana played so well despite the stalemate.

According to him, though they didn’t anticipate such a score line, but they would take it in good faith and fight ahead in the coming games.

“For me the draw is like a win for us, considering playing a game of such magnitude with a man down, we had to really work hard not to lose this game.

“The Benin team played with so much physical which we anticipated, we have to put this game behind us and think ahead of our upcoming games to make it out of the group stages.”

He noted that there was no pressure on the team now, but would need to rest well and continue to work hard as they prepare for the subsequent matches.

“We all know that it’s an African Cup and each country here deserves the slot, which proves that they are all good teams.

“We don’t have any pressure on us going into the upcoming games, we know it’s just a game and we have two more games and we are ready for those games,” he added.

Benin opened the scoring in the 2nd minute through forward Mickaël Franck Poté as Andre Ayew pulled even in the 9th minute for Jordan to make it 2:1 for Ghana before recess.

Poté pulled parity for Benin in the 63rd minute after Ghana defender john Boye had received a second bookable offence for time wasting.

Ghana comes up Against Cameroon on Saturday 29th June, 2019 as Benin takes on Guinea-Bissau in the other Group F encounter.