The  Black Stars of Ghana limped to a goalless draw in their penultimate match in the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifier against lowly-ranked Madagascar.

Ghana could have booked their ticket to Cote D'Ivoire 2023 but have postponed it to their last game at home to Central African Republic in September.

It was a gritty game which was very painful to watch with the Malagasies content to stay deep and constantly thwart any Ghana effort with their occasional break.

There was no short on target until in the second half in the 61st minute when Thomas Partey sent a bending free kick straight at the home goalkeeper.

Ghana's attack lacked any invention as Kamaldeen Sulemana, Joseph Paintsil, Jordan Ayew failed to cause any trouble for the home side.

Kamaldeen Sulemana sent an attempted curler wide of the goal in the first half which was the closest Ghana came to troubling the home goalie.

Osman Bukari perhaps had Ghana's best chance when he was played through by Thomas Partey but he hesitated with his strike as the chance went away.

Ernest Nuamah caused problems for the Malagasy back line when he replaced Kamaldeen Sulemana but that was it.

Ghana goalie Lawrence Ati-Zigi had to tip wide a free kick from the Malagasy before a string of corner kicks caused chaos in the Ghana penalty box.

It was a crappy performance which the players would not want to watch a replay while Chris Hughton and his technical team have a lot of work to do if they want to transform Ghana into winners.