Baba Yara Sports Stadium witnessed something spectacular as Asante Kotoko defeated Accra Hearts of Oak 1-0 on Sunday afternoon in week 13 of the GPL.
Baba Yara Sports Stadium witnessed something spectacular as Asante Kotoko defeated Accra Hearts of Oak 1-0 on Sunday afternoon in week 13 of the GPL.
No one could recall the last time Kotoko hosted Hearts of Oak that was so exciting like today’s fixture.
The last kick of the game did the damage as Albert Amoah capitalized on Kelvin Osei Asibey and goalkeeper Benjamin Asare’s lack of communication to win the three points for the Porcupine Warriors.
Fans had missed Asante Kotoko at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium after the club had played all their six home games at the Obuasi Len Clay Sports Stadium due to the renovation of the stadium.
Fans trooped to the venue with the belief that the Porcupine Warriors were going to beat their rivals Accra Hearts of Oak for the fourth consecutive time.
Asante Kotoko defeated Phobia home and away in the league last season and also beat them in the Democracy Cup.
Phobia was determined to at least avoid defeat, as the head coach, Abubakar Ouattara, stated before the game.
The match at exactly 3 pm got underway. At 3:00:10, Asante Kotoko nearly took the lead with Benjamin Asare making a wonderful save when Amofa failed to mark Saaka Dauda.
The first chance of the game with just ten seconds played was a sign that fans were going to have a nice day.
With 25 minutes of action played, former Great Olympics forward Albert Amoah met Peter Amidu Aqcuah’s cross but couldn’t direct his header well to give Kotoko the lead.
Phobia’s first real chance of the game fell to Hamzah Issah, who was set up nicely by the impressive Mohammed Hussein. Issah’s shot just went wide of the post much to the disappointment of Phobia’s fans.
The most exciting moment of the game came in the 26th minute when Albert Amoah was delightfully put through on goal against Benjamin Asare by Baba Yahaya’s exquisite pass.
Osei Asibey raced, slid and won the ball beautifully from Amoah for every one of the almost 30,000 spectators clapping for him.
Asante Kotoko thought they had scored the first goal through Albert Amoah in the 28th minute but the linesman had already uped his flag.
Baba Yahaya missed a sitter to give the Porcupine Warriors a deserving lead after his shot went over the bar from 11 yards. The first half ended goalless with Phobia being the happier of the two sides.
The second half did not have any chances like in the first half. Substitute Mawuli Wayo’s decent effort with less than 10 minutes to play was superbly stopped by Camara. With just five seconds left to end the game, Salim Adams calamitously lost the ball in Kotoko’s half, where they quickly transitioned, and a long ball was sent to Albert Amoah. The impressive Osei Asibey failed to communicate with Asare leading to Albert Amoah having the easiest jobs on the day. He calmly slotted the ball home to give Asante Kotoko the 3 points after the scramble.
Asante Kotoko’s celebration was wild with Prosper Narteh Ogum and the players running across the entire length of the pitch.
The win has sent Kotoko to 6th place with just three points behind the leaders Heart of Lions. Accra Hearts of Oak sits 7th trailing the league leaders by 5 points.
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