Sports - October 13, 2021

Zimbabwe 0 – 1 Ghana: Five things we learned

abrempongradiogh October 13, 2021

0 3 min read

he Black Stars beat the Warriors of Zimbabwe in Harare, to send Ghana top of Group G. However results from South Africa who face Ethiopia could shake up the group again.

Thomas Partey’s free kick in the first half was all the Black Stars needed to override a stubborn, yet toothless Warriors.

The performance was far from flattering yet at this point, it is only results which matter and here are five things we picked out from the game.

Milo is Back

The game was Milovan Rajevac’s second since his return as Black Stars head coach. His first game which took place in Cape Coast, was the return fixture of the Harare encounter, and saw the Black Stars run out 3 – 1 winners.

That game saw the Black Stars repeat certain circumstances from the Serb’s first spell. Kudus scored very early in the game, and Dede Ayew scored a late goal to seal Ghana’s win. The timing of the goals in Cape Coast directly mirrored a regularity in the Serb’s first tenure.

In Milo’s first stint, the Black Stars recorded six 1–0 score lines in 28 victories. Out of those six victories, 33.3% of the goals came in the dying minutes of the game. Meaning, the Black Stars for 66.6% of games, had to defend goals which sometimes came as early as in the first minute, and same happened in Cape Coast.

In Harrare, the Black Stars repeated yet another Milo trait. After Partey’s goal in the 31st minute, the Black Stars focused on defending their goal for the entirety of the first half.

Also just as it happened with Kwadwo Asamoah, who played in the hole behind the striker in Milo’s 4-2-3-1, Mohammed Kudus was given the license to make attempts from range when he deemed fit.

The Ajax midfielder seems to be operating a role similar to Kwadwo Asamoah’s 10 years ago.