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| Kotoko 3 -1 Hearts |
10/2/2011 |
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Asante Kotoko stunned rivals Hearts of Oak with a 3-1 win at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday to lift the maiden MTN Super 2 Charity match.
Kotoko went ahead on 33 minutes when striker Nathaniel Asamoah dribbled on-rushing goalkeeper Laud Quartey to set up Kofi Nti Boakye who tucked home the opener.
Boakye was perfectly teed up by Asamoah, who could have scored, and the former directed the pass into the yawning net.
The goal helped neutralized Hearts’ early dominance in midfield marshaled by Uriah Asante,
Mahatma Otoo missed a glorious scoring opportunity after two minutes when he sneaked behind the Kotoko back line.
He was put through on a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Abdulai Soulama but the All Africa Games gold medalist agonizingly shot wide.
Hearts went on to win a free-kick in the fifth minute but Douglas Nkrumah curled the ball over the wall into the side net.
Kotoko’s response only came in the 13th minute when Nathaniel Asamoah raided the Hearts right flank and glided in a cross which was headed over the bar by Ahmed Toure.
Two minutes later, Kotoko weaved pretty patterns and released left-back Baba Rahman on the flanks but his cross was too poor.
Against the run of play, Kotoko pinged the ball around and Asamoah dribbled goalkeeper Quartey to set up new signing Kofi Nti Boakye who did not err to slot home the opener.
Six minutes after the goal, Kotoko coach Maxwell Konadu was forced to shuffle
his cards through injury as left-winger was replaced by Fatawu Mohammed.
Hearts regained possession but Kotoko hang on to take a first half 1-0 lead.
The Phobians went into the break with their heads down but even before the second half resumed, coach Nebojsa Vucicevic replaced Toufic Moro with Bobbie Ansah.
That change proved to be the elixir needed by Hearts who turned on the screws on Kotoko and pounded their goal area with shot passes.
Uriah Asante was in his elements and was the key man in midfield for Hearts.
In the 49th minute Ahmed Soulama muffed up a scoring opportunity by blasting wide.
A minute later Kotoko defender Yaw Frimpong was forced to put a dangerous cross away for a corner.
On 54 minutes, striker Otoo comes in deep to pick the ball and send a piercing pass through to Asante inside the box but the latter was clipped by Awal Mohammed for a penalty.
Captain Douglas Nkrumah made no mistake and expertly put it beyond goalkeeper Soulama.
Soulama could not continue play after 61 minutes through a thigh injury and was replaced by rookie Felix Annan who looked jittery after coming on.
Hearts came back into the game but Nathaniel Asamoah’s brilliance in the 66th minute gave Kotoko the upper hand.
He skipped past his marker and dashed to the left sending in a cross which Ahmed Toure with a blistering header, thumped it into the corner to restore the lead.
Kotoko did not relent and piled pressure and in a rare counter-attack, Toure broke away and beat his last man Yusif Faisal and laid the pass onto Asamoah.
Asamoah had a good first touch on the ball before nut-meging goalkeeper Laud Quartey for the third goal.
Hearts are devastated and never regained their self-confidence.
The team was hoping for a win as a morale booster for the start of the season on 9 October.
The first leg of the charity match ended 1-1 at the Baba Yara Stadium last
Sunday.
Starting line-ups:
Kotoko: Abdulai Soulama-Augustine Okrah, Baba Rahman, Mohammed Awal, Ohene Brenya-Michael Akuffo, Frank Boateng, Yaw Frimpong, Nathaniel Asamoah, Kofi Nti Boakye-Ahmed Toure, Nathaniel Asamoah.
Subs: Amos Frimpong, Eric Donkor, Albert Bruce, Michael Anaba, Michael MensahDavid Offei, Fatawu, Richard Yeboah, Felix Annan.
Hearts: Laud Quartey- Yussif Faisal, Saeed Mohamed, Omar Toufic, Uriah Asante, Soulama Ahmed, Kofi Agyare, Abubakar Moro, Prince Gyimah, Douglas Nkrumah, Mahatma
Subs: Enzemaba Samuel, Abdul Ganiyu, Owusu Sefa Ansah Bobbie, Thomas Abbey, Raymond Darkey, JosephTagoe, Isaac Ofori, Sammy Adjei
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