Kotoko claim top spot after seeing off Karela United in Kumasi

By Yussi Ibrahim, GNA

Kumasi, Jan. 26, GNA – Asante Kotoko has moved to the summit of the Ghana Premier League after defeating Karela United 1:0 at the Baba Yara Stadium on Sunday in the match week 18 encounter.

The Porcupine Warriors whose campaign took a downward spiral at the later stages of the first half of the season, have not lost a game after beating Aduana Stars at the Nana Agyemang Badu Park in their last fixture of the first round.

Since that encounter, Kotoko had won four and drawn one match ahead of the Karela assignment, making them favourites for the encounter.

They therefore went into the match full of confidence, but Karela prevented them from enjoying a flying start as they kept them at bay in the early exchanges.

Despite Kotoko’s dominance in terms of possession, they could hardly penetrate the resolute defence of the visitors who exhibited tactical discipline to disrupt the build ups of the home team.

As the match travelled beyond the first quarter of an hour, Karela grew in confidence and began to threaten their hosts whose firepower at the initial stages was dwindling.

The home fans were visibly frustrated after possession appeared to be even with 30 minutes into the game as the away team continued to give a good account of themselves.

The last five minutes of the half saw Asante Kotoko stepping up their performance but the iron-clad backline of the visitors repelled all their threats, keeping the virginity of the match intact into the break.

It was a baptism of fire on the visitors upon resumption for the second half which saw Baba Yahaya squandering what could have been the opener under five minutes after restart.

Kotoko kept pushing for the opener as they fired from all angles, forcing Goalkeeper Abdul Ganiu to make a couple of brilliant saves to keep his side in the game.

Luck however eluded the visitors on the 60th minute when referee Alphonso Atiapa awarded a penalty against them after Issah Salifu brought down Yahaya in the box.

Justice Blay stepped forward and converted the spot kick to bring some sigh of relief to the anxious home fans.

The goal for obvious reasons set the stage for a thrilling 30 minutes of association football as both teams threw caution to the wind in their quest for the next crucial goal which could either put the game to bed or pave way for a come-back.

Although Kotoko looked more likely to consolidate their lead as the game entered the final 10 minutes, but Karela also made some dangerous incursions into the vital area of the Porcupines occasionally.

The match however ended without any additional goal, allowing Kotoko to secure all three points to climb to the summit of the league log.

GNA