Ghana returned to winning ways in their 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers following their 3-1 win over Zimbabwe on Saturday night at the Cape Coast Stadium.
Mohammed Kudus, Thomas Partey and Andre Ayew were all target as Milovan Rajevac kick-started his second stint with the club with a comfortable win.
Mohammed Kudus opened the scoring for Ghana after just six minutes into the game, latching unto an assist from Jordan Ayew to put the Black Stars in the lead.
The Ajax midfielder received a ball from his teammate in the left side of Ghana’s attack before playing a quick exchange with Jordan, and finally finishing off with his weaker foot just outside the 18-yard-box.
The Zimbabwe side looked better after conceding the early goal and pressed to get back level but the Ghanaian defence were far from being breached as they reacted well to every attack from the opposition.
But for the goalkeeper of Ghana’s opposition, Kudus could have grabbed his second of the first-half after being played through on goal by Partey only to be denied by Washington Arubi in goal for the away side.
Ghana went into the break with just a goal lead and looked exhausted prior to the first half whistle.
The second half started on quite a bad note for Ghana, after Alexander Djiku’s contact on an opposing player saw the referee award Zimbabwe a deserving penalty which was converted by skipper Knowledge Musona to draw team leveled.
The Warriors came yet close again twice to taking the lead after hitting the goalpost initially before debutant Jojo Wollacott made a brilliant save to keep Ghana in the game.
In the 66th minute, Arsenal star-man Partey made a brilliant interception before going all the way to hit a low strike past Arubi to restore the Black Stars lead. The goal was Partey’s ninth for the national team in 25 appearances.
With three minutes to go, Ayew climbed the tallest in the Zimbabwe box to head into the net a sumptuous cross by Abdul Baba Rahman, who looks to have rediscovered his form once again after a tough time.
Ghana now pays attention to the return trip to Zimbabwe on Tuesday for the return fixture and the fourth game of their qualifying series.
