The Black Stars of Ghana have beaten the Warriors of Zimbabwe 1-0 at the National Stadium in Harare to keep their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification hopes alive.
Arsenal star Thomas Partey, who captained the team, scored the only goal of the game in the 31st minute with an expertly taken long range free kick.
Amartey saw his effort cleared off the line late in the first half and Mohammed Kudus’ second half effort came off the woodwork.
The Black Stars started the game on a bright note and came close to breaking the deadlock when Kamaldeen Sulemana maneuvered his way into the box, but his effort was saved by the Zimbabwe goalkeeper.
On the other side, Ghana’s goalkeeper, Jojo Wallocott was forced into a very dangerous clearance after receiving a back pass from Jonathan Mensah. This was one of his best saves in the game in which he committed several blunders that could have cost the team if it were playing against a team with sharper attackers.
Partey’s beautiful free kick seals victory
Just after the half hour mark, the Black Stars were awarded a free kick outside the box and captain Thomas Partey made no mistake from 25 yards after beautifully curling in the winner.
Ghana nearly doubled the lead later in the game but Mohammed Kudus’ effort was cleared on the line. The Ajax star was once again denied by the cross bar in the 51st minute, as the Black Stars kept pressing.
The Warriors had their moments but could not pose any major threat in attack, but Alexander Djiku picked a booking following a foul on Khama Billiat.
Coach Milovan Rajevac substituted Kamaldeen Sulemana with Kofi Kyereh, who had an opportunity that went inches wide. Captain Andre Ayew, Samuel Owusu, Caleb Ekuban were all brought on with five minutes left as the West Africans run down the clock for an important away victory.
Coach Milovan Rajevac’s expectations met
Ahead of the game, Coach Milovan Rajevac, the Serbian tactician who led Ghana to a 3-1 win against the same opposition on October 9, 2021 at the Cape Coast sports stadium, was optimistic of completing a double over the Warriors.
Addressing the media in Harare ahead the game, the 67-year-old said “we respect the team we are playing against and we have a clear target, which is to qualify for the World Cup”.
“In this kind of job and especially in this kind of situations, you have to learn how to manage the pressure. We have confidence and so we will learn how to handle the pressure because if you cannot handle pressure, you can’t succeed in this game. It is something that we have to cope with and I think we will do that successfully”.
Coach Milovan Rajevac
True to his words, the team managed to pick all the 3 maximum points and will be hoping to win the final two games against Ethiopia and South Africa to book a ticket to Qatar 2022 World Cup.
However, a win for South Africa in the other Group G match against Ethiopia in Johannesburg will send them to top of the Group with 10 points, a point ahead of the Black Stars.
Elsewhere, Senegal continued its unbeaten run in the qualifiers as they beat Namibia 3-1 to maintain its dominance in Group H with 12 points from 4 matches.
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