Ghana through to Under-20 final

Ghana captain Dede Ayew scored one of his team’s four goals

Ghana are through to the final of the African Youth Championship after edging a seven-goal thriller against South Africa.

The Black Satellites hung on to win 4-3 after an action-packed game and a nail-biting finish that saw a spirited South African side chasing an equaliser in injury time.

Ghana had earlier looked to be coasting to a place in the final, after going 2-0 ahead, courtesy of two first-half goals from Adiyiah Dominic and Ransford Osei.

Phumelele Bhengu got South Africa back into the game on 63 minutes, only for Ghana to restore their two-goal cushion when captain Dede Ayew netted just a minute later.

Osei’s second on 71 minutes once more looked to have settled the tie, before Thulani Serero smashed home a spectacular long-range effort a minute later to spark another South African fight-back.

Bhengu made it 4-3 from the penalty spot with just three minutes remaining, but Ghana showed the quality they have displayed throughout the tournament to hold on for the four minutes of injury time and claim the win.

They will now take on either Cameroon or Nigeria in Sunday’s final, while South Africa will meet the other defeated semi-finalist in Saturday’s third place play-off.