19:30 Game begin to light up with a cheeky back heel from Gyan to Sulley as they mount pressure on the Mali defence, but they prove resolute.

19:24 K Asamoah lets off a thunderbolt of a strike which is parried by Diakite but Sulley’s rebound is just a whisker away.

19:23 Corner taken and again Kwarasey is lucky not to have been punished after missing his run. But ball goes for a goal kick.

19:21 Seydou Keita beginning to assert himself in midfield as he wins a free-kick after being brought down by John Boye. Kick taken but Adam Kwarasey misjudged the ball and loses it for a corner.

19:18 Paintsil does a good job on a tall Malian striker by a guarding a deep cross straight to touch for a goal kick.

19:15 K. Asamoah combines well with Gyan but the final touch from Gyan is intercepted.

19:14 Great pass to Gyan but appears a little over-hit as Diakite comes in with a save.

19:10 Modibo Maiga teasingly outwits Alhassan on the left but Annan comes to Ghana’s rescue with a strong challenge and wins a goal kick.

19:09 Mali mount some pressure on the Ghana defence but they remain resolute.

19:07 Mali begin to settle with some neat touches and a swift build up on the left but the cross was too deep for Maiga to connect.

19:05 Another corner as Ghana keep asking questions of the Mali defence. Corner wasted.

19:03 Ghana mount pressure on the Malian with a deep cross on the right by Paintsil but Sulley fouls the Mali defender for a free-kick at the edge of the Mali 18.

19:01 Ghana win her first corner after Asamoah mounted pressure on the Malian defence. Corner taken but a strong defensive header from a Mali defender

19:00 Ghana begin proceedings.

18:57 Captains, John Paintsil for Ghana and Seydou Keita gather at the centre for a toss. Mali win.

18:55 Players exchange pleasantries and take photographs.

18:53 The National Anthems begin; Ghana’s first with that of the Malians following.

18:52 Players make their way onto the pitch

Ghana play Mali in the second Group D match in Franceville, Gabon. Kick off time is 7:00 GMT. There will be live update here on Myjoyonline.com.

Dirk Kuyt’s late strike earned Liverpool a dramatic victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round at Anfield.

The tie seemed destined for a replay at Old Trafford as Ji-Sung Park’s powerful shot put United level after Daniel Agger had headed Liverpool into the lead – but there was a late twist to a surprisingly flat encounter.

Liverpool substitute Kuyt escaped the attentions of Patrice Evra with two minutes left to latch on to Andy Carroll’s flick and fire past United goalkeeper David de Gea in front of an ecstatic Kop.

It capped a perfect four days for Liverpool and manager Kenny Dalglish after reaching the Carling Cup final and their first Wembley appearance since 1996 at the expense of Manchester City on Wednesday, then sending their fierce rivals out of the FA Cup to reach the last 16.

The backdrop to the game was the incident involving Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Evra in the Premier League game at Anfield in October that led to the Uruguayan being banned for eight games by the Football Association for racially abusing the United defender.

And despite pleas for calm, Evra was jeered loudly by Liverpool’s supporters every time he gained possession.

United have now failed to win at Anfield since 2007 and manager Sir Alex Ferguson saw a gamble on keeper De Gea fail to reap dividends as the young Spaniard endured a desperate afternoon.

He failed to command his area for Agger’s opener then brought pressure on United in the second half with his inability to complete a simple clearance in his area and mishandling that did nothing to ease mounting Liverpool pressure.

United were without Wayne Rooney as he recovered from knee and ankle injuries while De Gea was restored in goal with Anders Lindegaard dropping to the bench.

De Gea was in action in the third minute as he dived to his right to turn away Maxi Rodriguez’s low shot as Liverpool attempted to take control early on.

It was United, however, who dominated possession with Paul Scholes the orchestrator of a game that was played at a tempo that suited Ferguson’s side.

Ryan Giggs tested Reina with a low shot and the dangerous Antonio Valencia struck the outside of an upright – but it was Liverpool who took the lead after 21 minutes.

United keeper De Gea was unable to make his presence felt in the company of Carroll at Steven Gerrard’s corner, allowing Agger to take advantage of the uncertainty to head home.

Liverpool went into retreat after scoring, allowing United to enjoy a lengthy spell of possession that concluded with Park’s leveller six minutes before the interval.

Jose Enrique should have dealt with a ball into the corner, but he hesitated and allowed Rafael to cross for Park to thump a powerful finish into the bottom corner beyond Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, who had no chance.

Martin Skrtel had to be alert after the restart to rescue Liverpool after Danny Welbeck flicked a pass past Reina towards an unguarded goal.

Liverpool were being offered hope by the uncertainty of United keeper De Gea, who put his defence under pressure when he failed to complete a simple clearance then allowed a cross to slip through his hands to needlessly concede a corner.

Dalglish then used his substitutes in quick succession, sending on Charlie Adam and Kuyt for Maxi and Jamie Carragher before throwing Craig Bellamy into the fray in place of tiring captain Gerrard with 18 minutes left.

It prompted Ferguson to make a change of his own as Javier Hernandez took the place of Scholes, who had barely wasted a pass in any area of the pitch.

In his absence Liverpool were able to push United back towards their own goal and the winning strike came with two minutes left.

Reina’s clearance was flicked on by Carroll and Evra lost Kuyt, allowing the striker to beat De Gea with a low shot in front an exultant Kop.

BBC

Juan Mata’s controversial second-half penalty earned Chelsea victory over west London rivals QPR and sent them into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Mata scored from 12 yards after Clint Hill was adjudged to have barged over Daniel Sturridge, a decision that looked harsh on replays.

Moments earlier, Chelsea claimed a penalty when Hill tripped Sturridge.

Mata forced a low save from Paddy Kenny in a game of few chances, while Ramires suffered a serious looking knee injury.

Much of the pre-match talk centred on whether there would be a conciliatory handshake between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand, in the first meeting between the sides since Terry was charged with racially abusing Ferdinand in October’s Premier League game.

But neither player was given the option as the Football Association announced before kick-off that there would be no customary pre-match handshakes between the sides.

While the atmosphere was fiery off the pitch, on it both sides played out a poor first half which lacked creativity.

Mata had the only clear chance, forcing Kenny into a decent low save from the edge of the box after seizing on Luke Young’s slip.

Joey Barton wasted QPR’s best effort, a half-volley from 20 yards which went comfortably wide of Petr Cech’s post.

Mata was the game’s outstanding player and his delightful back heel played in Ramires, but the Brazilian’s delivery across the face of the goal was missed by the Chelsea forward line.

Chelsea started the second half brightly and Sturridge went close, sending a fierce drive from the edge of the area narrowly wide after Fernando Torres played him in.

QPR were struggling to get a foothold in the game and had no penetration up front, despite the introduction of Federico Macheda at half-time.

The visitors were aggrieved not to win a penalty after Hill’s challenge on the lively Sturridge, but referee Mike Dean waved away appeals.

However, moments later Chelsea were awarded a penalty that looked less obvious when Hill was deemed to have bundled over Sturridge, who went to ground easily.

Mata dispatched the penalty expertly, sending Kenny the wrong way and finding the bottom left-hand corner of the net to give Chelsea a 60th-minute lead.

The action on the pitch led to some unsavoury incidents off it, with reports of objects being thrown by fans, while Dean spoke with a steward in the crowd about another incident during a break in play.

With 15 minutes remaining, Ramires blocked a shot from Hill, leading to a lengthy delay and the Chelsea player being carried off on a stretcher with suspected knee ligament damage.

The delay hindered QPR’s attempts for an equaliser, with Mark Hughes’s side finding it near impossible to gain any momentum and penetrate Chelsea’s defence.

But the announcement of seven minutes of injury time spurred them on and, in the final seconds, Young forced a decent low save from Cech before Shaun Wright-Phillips’s volley missed the target.

BBC

Goran Stevanovic is happy to have striker Asamoah Gyan back in contention for a place in his team against Mali on Saturday in the African Cup of Nations.

Gyan returned to training on Friday after a knock picked up against Botswana forced him off Thursday’s session.

“I am sure Gyan is ready for the game. Gyan had some problem yesterday but today he is much better,” Stevanovic said.

Both sides won 1-0 in their first matches and ahead of their clash, would be driven to take all the spoils to ensure their places in the quarter-finals.

With the exception of John Mensah and Isaac Vorsah, who are both suspended for today’s game, Stevanovic insists he has a squad ready ready to always step in.

“For the tournament, I repeat again, I need 20 ready players. For this tournament, the team to win is the team with a stronger bench,” he said.

“And I hope other players who get the chance would do well.”

Source: GFA