Brazilian Fabio Gama scored the only goal to power Asante Kotoko to a 1-0 victory over Ashantigold in their Ghana Premier League (GPL) match week 28 clash at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium to keepthe pressure on arch-rivals Hearts of Oak.
Gama continued his excellent scoring form after netting in midweek against BYFA in the FA Cup. The playmaker timed his run in the 23rd minute to head home Patrick Asmah’s lofted ball from the left.
The win took Kotoko’s tally to 50 points, one above leaders Hearts of Oak on 49 points with a late kick off game against local rivals Great Olympics, yesterday.
The loss deepened Ashgold’s woes with three loses on the bounce, mounting pressure on coach Thomas Duah as his side slumped to11th on the standings.
Kotoko played with a lot of intensity from the onset and nearly grabbed the opener when winger Emmanuel Gyamfi pressured Ashgold defender Kofi Nkrumah to commit a blunder but after gaining the advantage, Gyamfi’s attempt to dribble Ashgold goalie Kofi Mensah failed as Mensah got the ball out of danger.
Ashgold kept a close eye on Gama, attempting to limit the damage the midfielder could engineer and that allowed the marauding Patrick Asmah, Gyamfi, Keyekeh and Augustine Okrah to move in and cause trouble.
On one of such occasions, Asmah was just unlucky as his strike ricocheted off the post to the relief of the ‘Miners’.
Kotoko’s persistence paid off in the 23rd minute when they finally unlocked the Miners defense. Asmah embarked on a solo run whipping in a cross that was powered in by Gama beyond Mensah.
Kotoko’s attempt to ‘kill’ off the game with a second goal was not realised as Keyekeh , Latif Anabila, Gyamfi and Gama blew the opportunities that fell to them .
Ashgold failed to create and to pose any real danger with their live-wire Yaw Annor kept in check by Kotoko defender Abdul Ganiu.
BY NANA BENTSI ODURO
The post Kotoko overcome Ashgold appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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