Zambia 1-0 Ghana: Ghana fail to break down deep opposition and Zambia subs win it
The line-ups for much of the first half (the Zambian wide players started on opposite flanks to this, but switched early on)
Emmanuel Mayuka came off the bench to score an excellent goal, and Zambia are in the final.
Zambia coach Herve Renard made a couple of surprising moves, dropping Mayuka to bring James Chamanga in the side upfront. He also went more defensive in midfield, meaning no place for the tricky Chisamba Lungu, and Isaac Chanca pushed out wide.
Ghana coach Goran Stefanovic was without Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, so Derek Boateng started in the centre of midfield. Sulley Muntari was only on the bench, with Kwadwo Asamoah and the Ayew brothers supporting Asamoah Gyan.
Ghana dominate the ball
The game started at a slightly quicker tempo than in many matches in this tournament so far. Ghana, as expected, dominated possession throughout the game, finishing with just over 60% of the ball. Their task was to try to break down a resilient Zambia defence, who were supported well by two very defensive-minded holding players.
That said, sometimes the Sinkala-Kasonde duo got drawn too high up the pitch towards the Ghana holders, Anthony Annan and Boateng. This meant a little bit of space opened up for Asamoah between the lines, and he was probably the main Ghana threat when Zambia got men behind the ball. He had a good chance before half time that was deflected just wide, and also won the penalty that Gyan missed.
Zambia start cautiously
Zambia lined up in a 4-2-2-2ish system that meant they got two banks of four behind the ball, and then attempted to break quickly with the two wide players coming in off the flanks. In fact, the wingers actually swapped around after roughly 15 minutes, with Chansa on the left and Rainford Kabala, their most dangerous player on the ball, on the right. Kabala drove forward with the ball into the centre of the pitch and sometimes further across to the left to combine with Chansa, and attempted a couple of through balls.
But Zambia were struggling to get a grip of the game in midfield, and their main threat came from a couple of cleverly-worked corners.
Inkoom forward
Ghana then started playing some good combinations down their right. Andre Ayew would come inside into the centre of the pitch, allowing rampaging right-back Samuel Inkoom down on the overlap. His crossing was often poor, but he stretched the play well and took advantage of the fact Zambia’s wingers were often out of position at transitions from attack to defence. In fact, the reason Renard switched his wingers may have been because Chansa is the more defensively aware player, and could therefore track Inkoom.
Ghana didn’t replicate the threat from full-back on the other side – Lee Addy remained extremely deep and didn’t help Ghana switch the play. Everything went down the centre – the two brothers came inside and made everything too predictable, and Ghana had their usual problem: they lack creativity to break sides down when they can’t play on the break.
Zambia substitutions
The game was largely decided by substitutions, and the fact that Zambia turned to the bench for quickly shouldn’t be overlooked. In fairness to Stefanovic, his three substitutions seemed to be for injuries, with John Mensah clearly struggling, Gyan not 100% and Ayew going down injured before being withdrawn.
Zambia brought on Mayuka and Lungu for Chamanga and Kasonde
Nevertheless, Renard got his changes right – he moved back to the XI he’d used in the 3-0 quarter-final win over Sudan. Mayuka replaced Chamanga up top and offered more of an attacking threat – he had more pace, so could receive passes over the top of the Ghana defence, and picked up the ball closer to goal than Chamanga did.
The other change saw the holder Kasonde removed, with Sinkala becoming the sole holding player, and Chansa moved to the centre to drive forward from there. The man coming on was Chisamba Lungu, who ran at the Ghana defence and gave the ball away unnecessarily a couple of times, but helped to force Inkoom back.
The goal came both indirectly and directly because of the changes. Lungu had caused danger down the left and then played a silly backheel to concede possession. But this forced Inkoom into a rare bit of defensive duty, and his limitations there were demonstrated by his poor clearance to Chansa.
Chansa had already moved forward more and started plotting on the edge of the box, and here he played the ball into Mayuka, made a run past him (which would never have happened from a central midfielder before the changes), and Mayuka curled it expertly into the far corner.
The three Zambia players to touch the ball before the goal were Lungu (a sub), Chansa (in a new position after the subs), and Mayuka (a sub).
Conclusion
The bench worked well for Zambia, but in moving back to his XI for the previous game, maybe Renard was simply correcting the errors he made in his starting selection. It will surely be the XI that ended the game that starts the final on Sunday.
Few predicted Ghana’s exit here, but the manner was far from a surprise. Too predictable in the final third and lacking creativity – as discussed late last year, they haven’t yet figured out how to score goals when they’re the side dictating the play.
good read! Ghana created more chances to win the game but as you said they’re yet to figure out how to score goals when dictating the play and goals win you games!! As the game went on, one just knew Zambia could nick a goal on the counter. game good though
A few points on the game:
1. Ghana could have won this in the first half when they were dominating against a poor Zambia. They were strong defensively and created a few chances. Inkoom got forward really well, and helped stretch the play (though is final ball was poor, this really helped Ayew), Annan and Boateng were a good foundation to start attacks, Asamoah had clever movement getting forward and should have scored, while the Ayew brothers looked a threat on the ball as they came inside and looked for shots on goal.
2. The problems were; the LB didnt get forward at all which J.Ayew really needed to help stretch the defense, Boateng was too hesitant to make runs forward into the box, while Gyan had a poor game which was the big problem. He is Ghana’s main source of goals and when he doesnt play well, the rest of the side doesnt. The problem today was he isnt used to playing with his back to goal, his build up play was poor, while he wasnt given good delivery in the box (mianly by Inkoom) and he wasnt 100% fit, which i think had an effect on the penalty miss. What i would have liked to have seen is more movement from him to try and get one of the Ayew brothers into the penalty area, but this didnt seem the plan today.
3. Second half, Zambia got there act together and Ghana got worse. Zambia were smart, they brought on Mayuka to stretch the defense (he also took his goal well), which let Katongo play deeper and occupy Annan, which meant when Chansa (who moved centrally) got forward he brought Asamoah with him (nullify Ghana’s biggest threat more). They also had two attacking wingers on now, which pushed Inkoom back, this had two effects of stopping Ghana strecthing play down the right and also exposing Inkoom defensively. So Zambia now had goal threats in the pace Mayuka, two wingers attacking goal and Chansa moving forward from midfield. Ghana had now lost there two biggest threats of Asamoah and Inkoom who were pushed back. It has to be said Zambia were brave, as there changes could have lost them the game, but they were the perfect changes and Zambia are through to the final against all odds.
ps I still dont see Zambia winning this; they lack good ball possession in deep midfield, lack a good link between midfield and attack (Katongo isnt good enough) and lack a good striker as Mayuka only really brings pace, he is a good impact sub, but surely starting him from the start will mean he will be exposed.
“lack a good striker as Mayuka only really brings pace, he is a good impact sub, but surely starting him from the start will mean he will be exposed.” I thought Mayuka started in all the other four games and played well.
Not a bad effort from an ex-Cambridge Utd manager!
zambia are, from what ive seen, a bit too defensive to beat Ivory Coast. Also, CIV have got a bit more savoir faire in the final third than Ghana seemed to have today – often an Ayew would break forward and shank a cross to Gyan – who is a bit greedy at times, and that’s two missed penalties in top tournaments now!! Not an enviable record!!
But really, if Ghana score that PK, they’re through, since I think with a lead they’re a team who like to dictate rather than chase. Its a shame the dream final is gone and its probably a walkover for CIV now but who knows – this tournament is all about upsets and Zambia are effective on the break….
“its probably a walkover for CIV now.” It is this sort of reasoning that the under-dogs have thrived on thus far. By now, the growing list of casualties should help the remaining sole favourite desist from celebrating while the so called under-dog is plotting, but we never learn, do we?
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