Ten-man Hearts of Oak have narrowly edged rivals Asante Kotoko by 1-0 in a very entertaining fixture of Ghana Premier League match-day 22 at the Baba Yara Stadium.
The ‘Super-Clash’ doesn’t produce early goals recently but this time it took just fourteen minutes for Hearts of Oak to open the scoring account.
Center-back Baba Adamu connected into the net with a header beyond the reach of goalkeeper Mohammed Camara from a brilliant Martin Karikari free-kick.
Nine minutes later, the ‘Phobians’ had another huge opportunity to increase the tally after Mohammed Camara gifted a pass to Mawuli Wayo but the latter failed to score from a close range.
The visitors at certain point were reduced to ten men after Emmanuel Amankwah was giving the matching orders after receiving a second yellow card on the back of a nasty tackle on Saaka Dauda.
Both team finished the first interval with injuries; Hamza Issah went off for George Paaku while Musah Hamzata also replaced Henry Ansu in defense on the part of Kotoko.
In the second half, the Porcupine Warriors returned on a blistering note and looked much improved as compared to their output at half-time.
In as much as the homesters were dominating in every aspect, penetrating through enemy territory became tough as Hubert Gyau came so close but his attempted cross at near post was saved by Benjamin Asare at near post.
In the 61st minute, Albert Amoah was set up with a glorious opportunity just at the edge of the box but blasted wide.
In the 74th minute, Patrick Asiedu came so close with a long range drive but was parried away by Benjamin Asare.
Just three minutes later, the Rainbow Club had a glorious opportunity to increase their tally after substitute Raphael Amponsah was set up in a one on one situation but struck straight at Mohammed Camara.
Asante Kotoko’s woes has been deepen after this defeat having dropped to fifth with 35 points.
Hearts of Oak have now halted their three-year winless league run against their rivals and will definitely celebrate massively having claimed this precious win and bragging rights.
