Asamoah Gyan scored deep into injury-time to give Ghana a precious 1-0 victory over Algeria to blow Group C at the African Nations Cup finals wide open.
Ghana had conceded with almost the last kick of the game to lose their opener to Senegal 2-1, but this time turned the tables to grab a dramatic late winner of their own.
It brought to life a quiet night for Gyan, who returned to the side after his malaria scare last weekend, as he displayed his incredible strength and finishing ability to stun the north Africans.
Coach Avram Grant reverted to a more traditional 4-4-2 formation from the 3-5-2 used in the 2-1 loss to Senegal last time out, with Gyan leading the line.
His Algerian counterpart Christian Gourcuff made three changes to the side that beat South Africa 3-1, with Madjid Bougherra replacing the injured Rafik Halliche in defence, while Ishak Belfodil and Saphir Taider replaced Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani.
There was little to enthuse over in the first half, the most excitement being provided by a scuffle between Ghana's Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu and Ishak Belfodil after the former took exception to a challenge. It was a nasty exchange that deserved at the very least a yellow card, but the referee gave only a stern talking to the pair.
Gyan came close seven minutes after the break when his glancing header flashed across goal and just wide of the far post after Harrison Afful had delivered an inviting cross from the right.
There was a lovely bit of interplay between the Ayew brothers that almost resulted in a goal when Andre teed up Jordon, whose back-heel almost found the top corner of the net.
Andre Ayew then had a headed chance from Christian Atsu's cross, but he could not get on top of the ball and it sailed over the bar.
It looked as though the match was petering out to a draw before Gyan struck.
He latched onto a hopeful long ball out of defence in the 93rd minute, beat Algerian defender Carl Medjani for pace and lashed his shot across the goalkeeper and into the far corner of the net to spark wild scenes of celebration.
Ghana take on South Africa in their final Group C match on Tuesday, while Algeria meet Senegal.
