Ghana lose to Germany in a tight game

Against Switzerland, Germany tested the nerves of their supporters by scoring the winning goal in the 85th minute in a 4-3 thriller in which Switzerland took the lead twice. Against Ghana on Monday night, Julian Nagelsmann’s men won again, but this time they waited until 88th minute for the winning goal. Deniz Undav, Stuttgart’s striker started the game on the bench in favor of Nick Woltemade but eventually came and confirmed his excellent form with a goal in a 2-1 win over the Black Stars. In strict numbers, this was Germany’s seventh consecutive win, in which they scored 22 goals and conceded five. But the German public will be as critical after this win, as it was after the Switzerland game.

Die Mannschaft surely deserved the win but it wasn’t so convincing game as everybody hoped, including Nagelsmann. The Ghana team was humiliated 5-1 by Austria, but in this game, they nearly played a draw against a much stronger opponent. Germany had a number of chances, but only two really good ones and they allowed the Black Stars to score from one of only two opportunities they had during the whole 90 minutes. After all, Germany’s first goal was a penalty after a handball by Ghana defender. Julian Nagelsmann will have to work much harder with his team before the World Cup.

From the start of the match, the Germans went straight to Ghana’s goal but if it wasn’t for the handball in injury time, the first half would be goalless. The home team was dominant and had the ball most of the time, but there was no real chances as Ghana kept it tight at the back. After half an hour, Kimmich had in a free-kick from the right and the ball falled to Tah, but he blazed it over with the help of a deflection. Three minutes later Woltemade and Wirtz combined nice for the opener, but the goal was denied as the Newcastle striker was in offside position. But in injury time Wolfsburg’s Jonas Adjei Adjetey handballed in the penalty area and after a call from VAR room, the referee pointed at the penalty spot. Kai Havertz easily converted and Germany went to the locker room with one goal advantage.

The second half started much lively and within seven minutes, we saw three chances already. Brown's cross from inside the area was cleared and Rudiger almost converted from the following corner. Then Ghana finally managed a decent chance when Semenyo broke from the right and found Adu, but Schlotterbeck managed to block the shot in the last moment. The following attack almost ended with a goal, but Woltemade’s header ended up hitting the bar. The punishment came in the 70th minute when Kohn broke away down the left before cutting back to an unmarked Fatawu, who swept the ball into the bottom corner from the penalty spot. But Germany pushed even harder and eventually managed to score the winner in the 88th minute, when crowd favorite (the game was played in Stuttgart) reacted instinctively and put the ball into the net for the final 2-1.