Hearts beats Asante Kotoko 1-0
Accra Hearts of Oak on Sunday beat their arch rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko 1-0 in the 9th Week fixture of the Glo Premier League match at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
The lone goal of the titanic encounter was netted by Douglas Nkrumah in the 65th minute from a spot kick after his in-swinger had hit the stretched arm of Kotoko’s defender, Ofosu Appiah in the box.
Playing as if they were doped, Kotoko allowed Hearts to dominate the game right from the onset and nearly took the lead in the second minute with Nkrumah hitting the side net with a powerful left footer after driving through forests of the legs of the Kotoko defence.
Kotoko accepted the challenge and mounted series of attacks to find the early lead with Alex Asamoah getting the opportunity in the 13th minute but his shot was parried to corner by goalkeeper Sammy Adjei and the resultant kick from Ekow Benson was wasted.
With the pressure on Hearts, goalkeeper Adjei was called upon to make another magnificent save from Samad Oppong in the 19th minute.
Hearts overturned the heat on the Porcupine Warriors and scored a goal in the 21st minute through Obed Ansah but the effort was ruled off-side.
Uriah Asante of Hearts in the 23rd minute hit the cross bar with a perfect shot with the rebound of a shot from Wilson Ando sailing over the bar to the relief of the home fans.
In the 25th minute Obed Ansah was nearly on target again but his header missed the post narrowly after Kotoko’s goalkeeper Isaac Amoako had failed to make a first time save of the ball.
Sensing danger and with the vociferous teeming supporter of Kotoko sitting on ‘thorns’, Coach Ebo Mends replaced injured Alex Asamoah with Edward Affum but it was still Hearts who dominated the game as they kept firing cylinders of shots from all angles with the Kotoko defence jittery.
Ever busy Ansah was flagged the yellow card for using his hand to put the ball into the net in the 44th minute from a corner kick to end the first half.
The Phobians came back still the stronger side after the recess and played it had with the defence of Kotoko looking sluggish and weak and finding it difficult to withstand the wrath of the Hearts attackers.
With the heat on Kotoko, Hearts who showed their determination to carry the day, were denied two quick glaring penalties in the 49th and 51st minutes by referee Cecil Fletcher.
Finding the stage tough and with their pride at stake, Kotoko’s Jordan Opoku took over from Albert Bruce in the 53rd minute but it made no difference as Hearts continued to pile pressure for the leader.
In the 56th minute, Samad Oppong in a two-man move with Edward Affum and with only Sammy Adjei to beat fumbled in the box for the ball to be cleared.
The winning goal for Hearts however came in the 65th minute when they broke the deadlock after they were awarded a penalty this time round when central defender Ofosu Appiah handled the ball in the box, which Douglas Nkrumah made no mistake to score for Hearts to send the Phobia faithful supporters into wild jubilation while some of the supporters of Kotoko starting leaving the arena in despair.
Kotoko made their last substitution with veteran Stephen Oduro replacing Samad Oppong but with a last minute onslaught to level up the scores they could not penetrate the impregnable defence of Hearts till the final whistle.
Source: GNA