GPL Round-Up: Kotoko, Olympics, Medeama Record Wins As Hearts And Aduana Lose
The weekend was action-packed in Ghana with games played across multiple venues in the country starting from Friday and ended on Sunday. If you missed any of the scores, relax and grab some popcorn as myactiveonline.com serves you with all the scores and stats from the week 22 action in the Ghana Premier League.
Friday Curtain Raiser
Action in the league started on Friday afternoon when Berekum Chelsea welcomed West African Football Academy, WAFA to the Golden City Park to start the week 22 action for the weekend. It was a match the Blues needed to win having lost to Liberty Professionals in week 21. WAFA on the other were in to extend their fine form following their success over Eleven Wonders last time out.
In what became a five-goal thriller, Bright Amponsah scored in under 30 seconds following the start of the game to give Chelsea the lead. Justus Torsutsey equalized for WAFA after 22 minutes before Enock Asubonteng put the visitors in the lead a minute later with a simple tap-in having being left unmarked. Stephen Amankonah scored from the penalty spot before half-time to leave the game level before the break. Issah Basit then scored the winner for the academy boys three minutes after the break.
Saturday Action
Legon Cities welcomed Kumasi Asante Kotoko to the Accra Sports Stadium in one of the two matches for the day. Both sides had something big to play for as the Royals lost two points in their last outing with the Porcupine Warriors losing at home to league leaders Medeama last time out.
The Royals opted to bench Ghana veteran Asamoah Gyan for the encounter and even his late substitution in was not enough to even enforce a draw for the Legon based side. Augustine Okrah’s solitary first half strike was all that was needed to win maximum points for Mariano Barreto’s side. Though the goal was initially credited to Emmanuel Gyamfi, Okrah was later rightfully credited for being the last to touch Fabio Gama’s free-kick that resulted in the goal.
Eleven Wonders following their defeat to WAFA last time out were hungry to claim all points at home in their game against regional rivals Aduana Stars. The visitors however took the lead in the 12th minute through Bright Adjei. The Sure Wonders however fought back to claim victory following goals from Mohammed Tetteh who scored from the spot ten minutes after Aduana’s opener and Samuel Boakye’s strike with four minutes of regulation time left to play.
Epic Sunday
Bechem United recorded a 2-1 win over Inter Allies to compound the Tema based side’s woes. Salifu Moro and Hafiz Konkoni both scored in the first half to put the Hunters two goals ahead at the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park with the former scoring from the spot. Inter Allies pulled one back in the 68th minute but could not get another to level the game.
King Faisal failed to keep their winning rhythm following their victory over Inter Allies last weekend. At home against early-season pacesetters Karela United FC, they only managed a draw. A goal each from Zubairu Ibrahim for King Faisal in the 17th minute and Maxwell Boakye in the 89th minute was what was needed in order to share the spoils.
Medeama SC continues to flourish as they aim to lay their hands on the title this season. Following their impressive defeat of Kotoko away from home last week, they recorded an emphatic 3-0 win over Ebusua Dwarfs who trashed Olympics last week in Cape Coast. Ahmed Toure, Ibrahim Yaro and Prince Agyemang scored in the 49th, 57th and 66th minute to hand all three points to the Yellow and Mauves who still maintain their place at the top of the table.
Elmina Sharks handed Ashanti Gold SC a 2-1 defeat on Sunday afternoon. Sharks came into the match having lost their last match to Aduana Stars and needed the points to get their season back on track. The Miners however were 4-0 winners in their last weekend action. Goals from Ishmael Hammond and Kingsley Braye in the 69th and 77th minutes respectively for Elmina Sharks insured David Abagna’s 50th minute strike was a mere consolation for the Miners who face Eleven Wonders next weekend.
Accra Great Olympics returned to winning ways by handing city rivals Liberty Professionals a 2-0 defeat. Goals from Maxwell Nii Abbey Quaye and Joshua Rhule in the 37th and 85th minutes respectively were enough to hand the Dade boys maximum points against the Scientific Soccer Lads.
Ali Huzaf and Sylvester Simba were the goal scorers for Dreams FC at the Theatre of Dreams against Accra Hearts of Oak. The Phobians played with ten men for the majority of the second half following the dismissal of Nuru Sulley for a second bookable offence in the 53rd minute. Ali Huzaf scored a minute after the Phobians were reduced to 10-men as Dreams made their numerical advantage count. Sylvester Simba then scored deep into stoppage time as the Still Believe boys sink the continental masters at Dawu.
The Stats
Week 22 produced 24 goals with 16 of them coming from the home sides and the remaining 8 from away sides. There were 8 wins with one draw. Of the wins, 6 were from home sides and two from away sides. No player scored more than one goal, meaning there were a total of 24 different scorers on match day 22. There were three penalty goals and they were scored by Stephen Amankonah, Mohammed Tetteh and Moro Salifu for Berekum Chelsea, Eleven Wonders and Bechem United respectively.
By: Clifford Adumbire | myactiveonline.com
