Ghana went down in the second minute when Michael Pote of Benin rounded Lumor Agbenyenu after he was put through before he slotted the ball home.
Pote's goal is the fastest in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) thus far.
But Andrew Ayew snatched the equaliser for the Black Stars seven minutes afterwards to emerge as Ghana's all-time leading top scorer in the AFCON with nine goals.
Before Jordan Ayew put Ghana in the driving seat a few minutes to the half time break.
The tide changed after the break when John Boye was handed a second booking for delaying tactics and Benin capitalised on that to secure the equaliser.
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Mickael Pote put the Squirrels on level pegging when he scored from a nice backheel in the 77th minute.
Thomas Partey was denied by the Benin goalkeeper when his well-taken freekick was pushed to the corner kick.
Mounier, the dangerman for the Squirrels only threat in front of goal was his free-kick which forced Richard Ofori to react to save the situation.
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Ghana’s Christian Atsu was a pale shadow of himself. He failed to take on his opponents and his runs were awful.