Ghana began their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Morocco in Group C on Monday.

The Black Stars started the match brightly with three corners in the opening four minutes but the Atlas Lions dealt with the aerial threat.

The first chance of the game fell to Morocco after Partey’s mistake in midfield gave Zakaria Aboukhal a sight at goal. But his shot from distance was comfortably saved by Joojo Wollacott.

Alexander Djiku was the first player to get booked after a rough challenge on a Morocco’s attacker in a dangerous.

The delivery on the resulting free kick however was not good enough as Ghana cleared their lines.

In the 22nd minute, referee Joshua Bondo showed Adam Masina a yellow card after a blatant foul on Joseph Paintsil.

On the half hour mark, Thomas Partey saw his free kick on the edge of the box curl inches over the cross bar.

Morocco also came very close to breaking the deadlock in the 40th minute through Romain Saiss who planted a header just over the bar from close range.

On the stroke of half time, Joseph Paintsil embarked on a breathtaking solo run skipping past three defenders but misdirected his shot from the edge of the box.

Morocco started the second half with real purpose and carved open Ghana’s backline on a couple occasions but their final ball was lacking as the Stars’ survived the wave of pressure.

Both teams continued to trade blows mostly in the middle of the pitch while the defenses remained largely untroubled.

Joseph Paintsil came up with a moment of real quality in the 73rd minute. The winger received a low pass just outside the box and unleashed a fine strike towards the top right corner.

However, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou pulled off a brilliant save to deny what would’ve been a certain goal for Ghana.

Just when the game looked certain to end in a scoreless stalemate, Sofiane Boufal delivered the crucial three points for Morocco late in the game.

The Angers star was in the right place at the right time to get the rebound inside the box before gleefully smashing the ball to into the left side of the goal.

Ghana will look to bounce back when they face Gabon next on Friday while Morocco aim to seal qualification into the next round against Comoros.