Asamoah Gyan headed Ghana into the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday while Uganda were condemned to an early exit after an agonising defeat to Egypt in Port-Gentil.
Gyan scored the only goal of the first match of the day in a Group D double-header in the Gabonese port city, securing a 1-0 win for the Black Stars against Mali.
On an awful pitch, seven-time African champions Egypt had substitute Abdallah El Said to thank for the 89th-minute effort that gave them a 1-0 win over Uganda, who become the first team to be eliminated.
Four-time winners Ghana, the runners-up in 2015, are one of only two teams to have clinched qualification for the quarter-finals with a match to spare, the others being Senegal.
"In tournaments you need to be winning games and that is what we did today," said Gyan, who has now scored at six consecutive Cup of Nations tournaments.
"We are satisfied about our performance. Whether we play an excellent game or not, at the end of the day we just want to win and move forward."