Asante Kotoko have beaten their fierce rivals Hearts of Oak in the first meeting of the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League courtesy an injury-time penalty.
The Porcupine Warriors won the Super Clash at the Accra Sports Stadium 2-1 after Guinean striker scored a 90th-minute penalty.
Hearts settled quickly and should have scored at least a goal out of the three great chances they had. Daniel Afriyie failed to keep his header on target following a brilliant cross by Joseph Esso.
Midfielder Emmanuel Nettey pounced on a loose ball but couldn’t hit the target with only goalkeeper Kwame Baah to beat before Joseph Esso with acres of space shot wide. All three chances came in the space of four minutes.
The wasted opportunities would prove costly in the 11th minute as Kotoko shot into the lead. Augustine Okrah’s wonderful cross was headed powerfully into the net by midfielder Justice Blay.
The goal left Hearts absolutely shocked while it allowed Kotoko to settle. On 22 minutes, Mudasiru Salifu made a brilliant run in the centre, holding off two defenders but his low shot went agonizingly wide.
Justice Blay met another cross but this time his header was way off the target in the 33rd minute.
Three minutes to halftime, Emmanuel Gyamfi fell in the box following contact by Fatawu Mohammed. The referee Emmanuel Eshun adjudged it to be a fair challenge as Mohammed also made contact with the ball. Shortly after, Kofi Kordzi also went down in the box appealing for a penalty but the referee would have none of it.
Hearts of Oak came back from the break on top and started dictating the pace.
On 53 minutes, Nettey delivered a perfect pass which set Afriyie on the attack but a sliding tackle from Wahab Adams halted him and the Phobians won a free-kick. Kodzie stood behind the ball and delivered a poor one.
Nettey again threaded a defence splitting pass which found Kodzie inside the box but Adams threw himself onto the shot at goal and deflected for a corner.
The equalizer came after 64 minutes through a free header from Joseph Esso after an initial attempt at come off the side post.
Kotoko threaten with an Okrah free-kick which dipped on the roof of the net. After that, head coach Maxwell Konadu introduced 16-year-old Matthew Cudjoe.
Goalkeeper Attah saved Hearts of Oak from conceding with a top-class stop to tip Emmanuel Gyamfi’s header over for a corner kick.
Credit must go to the teenager Cudjoe who brilliantly dribbled past Mohammed Alhassan to hit the bar line before connecting with his right foot to find Gyamfi inside the box.
Cudjoe again was the chief architect after his goal-bound shot struck the extended arm of defender Mohammed Alhassan and referee Emmanuel Eshun pointed to the spot.
Keita took the ball and converted expertly to beat Attah behind the stick.
