Ashanti Gold brush aside Chelsea in 30 minutes to reach FA Cup finals

Obuasi Ashanti Gold made light work of Berekum Chelsea at the Cape Coast Stadium to cruise through to the 2020/21 MTN FA Cup finals. Three goals in extra time plus a first-half were enough to knock the Blues out of the contest.

In what was set to be a mouth-watering contest between the two sides, it ended in a one-sided contest with the Miners getting the pass to the finals to face either Accra Hearts of Oak or Medeama SC who play later today.

A couple of good exchanges in the first half did not yield results as both sides stood resolute and repelled all attacks. However, Ashanti Gold found their lucky trick in added time of the first half and made it work with Eric Esso scoring to take his side into the break with a slim 1 – 0 lead with a spectacular free-kick.

That lead only lasted for six minutes in the second half of the game. Stephen Sarfo levelled for Chelsea leaving the game open, with the substitute needing just two minutes on the pitch to do that. The search for a winner then was set in motion with Chelsea who won two of their previous two matches in the competition this season looking ready to see it out. With no winner at the end of 90 minutes, extra time was the next thing.

Having done extra time in the competition before, the Blues looked set to call on that experience to beat the Miners in extra time. But what was their gold turned out to be Ashanti Gold’s bounty as the Miners mined all of it to leave the Blues dejected. Amos Nkrumah scored a beautiful long-ranger in the first minute of extra time to give the Miners the push.

Berekum Chelsea soon after going down 2 – 1 also went down by a man when Stephen Badu was sent off for a second bookable offence. The Blues then lost composure as their tempers flare. The Miners would then take advantage of their numerical strength to exploit Chelsea as the Blues still pushed forward in search of the equalizer.

Amos Addai made it 3 – 1 for Ashanti Gold in added time of the first half of the extra time to take the game beyond the reach of the sunken Blues. And with three minutes of the extra 30 minutes to go, Seth Osei added the fourth to what was already a magical extra time for the Miners.

Their win means they will await the winner of the final semi-final match between Hearts of Oak and Medeama both of whom will be representing Ghana in CAF competitions next season.

By: Clifford Adumbire | myactiveonline.com