Ghana is through to the next round of the 2010 African and World Cup qualifiers after a 3-0 win over Lesotho.
Goals from Sulley Muntari and Junior Agogo in the first half and a third from Matthew Amoah in the second half gave Ghana all three points and top spot on goal difference ahead of Gabon who beat Libya 1-0 in Libreville.
The Black Stars needed all three points to stand any chance of going through and started well in a packed Essipong Stadium in Sekondi that had come out in their numbers to support them.
Sulley Muntari had the sniff of goal when he got on the end of a fine cross from Junior Agogo but his header came off the left post after only 11 minutes.
But he found target on 19 minutes when he struck a sweet left footed shot from outside the 18-yard box to give Ghana the lead.
Three minutes later it was 2-0 as the Black Stars took a stronger hold on the game. The Zamalek forward looked to have fumbled a Muntari cross but he kept his calm, fended off the attention of two defenders before chipping a fine effort beyond Sam Ketsekile.
It got the Essipong stadium thrilled but the Black Stars just could not keep up the pace in the simmering heat of Sekondi.
In the second half, Matthew Amoah preferred in attack to Prince Tagoe continued with his rich vein of goal scoring form, taking advantage of some poor defending by Mohapi Ntopo before rounding up Ketsekile and then finishing calmly.
The Stars took their legs off the pedal after change after change reduced their bite but coach Milovan Rajevac was massively thrilled that the Black Stars had made the most of a the game.
But while the game was good and the result what the crowd wanted, there will be concerns here about the lax security in the stadium.
Fans broke down two gates as the crowds overflowed. The pathways were all taken over by fans in the 20,000 capacity structure and fans climbed up as high in weird positions to see them game.
It was a good day at the office for the Black Stars but not so for the organizers.
