Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey scored again as Ghana achieved a double over Zimbabwe in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday afternoon.
Partey scored the only goal as Black Stars recorded a 1-0 win at National Sports Stadium, three days after their 3-1 victory.
The win takes Ghana to the top of Group G, however, South Africa have the opportunity to reclaim the position as they host Ethiopia later in the day.
Partey who scored in Cape Coast, netted the winner in Harare and although Zimbabwe performed better than they did on Saturday, it was not enough to salvage anything and remain bottom of the group.
Head coach Milovan Rajevac made a bold call by not starting captain Andre Ayew. The Qatar-based forward, reportedly struggling with a groin problem, started on the bench and Partey was tasked to lead the team.
Partey led by example as he opened the scoring with a powerful freekick in the 31st minute. Zimbabwe goalkeeper Talbert Shumba should’ve saved the ball because it was straight at him. However, he underestimated it and paid the ultimate price.
The goal stunned Zimbabwe because they had been the better side in the last 10 minutes, causing Ghanaian defence problems. Goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott, palpably nervous, was lucky not to give away a penalty following a poor back pass by Baba Iddrisu.
Few minutes to halftime, Daniel Amartey had a ball cleared off the line after a mistake by Zimbabwe goalkeeper before Benjamin Tetteh skied the rebound.
After the restart, Ghana continued to attack and came close to scoring the second. Kudus Mohammed struck the crossbar with a fantastic effort and Germany-based Daniel-Kofi Kyereh missed the goal by inches from close range.
Zimbabwe ended the game without any shot on target because of a lack of incisiveness in front of goal. Captain Knowledge Musona was guilty of shooting waywardly twice and Khama Billiat who returned from suspension was kept quiet.
Ghana’s next games in the group is against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa and South Africa in Cape Coast next in November.
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