Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien ended his international football exile this weekend to help Ghana defeat Congo 3-1 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Appearing in the colours of the Black Stars for the first time since January last year, Essien was denied a goal by the woodwork during the first half before being taken off when the three points were secure.
Essien has suffered several serious injuries while on national team duty -- most recently during the 2010 Cup of Nations in Angola -- and decided to take a break.
Victory confirmed the supremacy of Ghana over Congo in qualifiers for the premier African senior national team competition with six victories from six meetings.
Defender Isaac Vorsah, striker Prince Tagoe and midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu scored for the four-time Cup of Nations winners while Matt Moussilou was on target for the Red Devils.
Backed by a capacity 40,000 crowd in central city Kumasi, Ghana dominated from the kick-off in wet conditions only to find Congo more stubborn rivals than in Brazzaville last March when they crumbled to a 3-0 defeat.
Tagoe from Serb club Partizan Belgrade was the main first half culprit, failing to score when a goal seemed inevitable, and Congolese goalkeeper Chancel Massa produced several superb saves.
Congo suffered a major blow soon after half-time when Fabry Makita was sent off following his second caution and Ghana took advantage to break the deadlock on 62 minutes with Vorsah scoring his first international goal.
The fullback rose unchallenged to nod a Agyemang-Badu corner past Massa and Tagoe atoned for his earlier blunder by tapping in a rebound five minutes later after Dominic Adiyiah had a shot blocked.
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