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Berekum Chelsea Temporarily Halt Kotoko's
Forward Match
By: Jerome Otchere
Date: 17th January 201
Asante Kotoko's renaissance came to a premature end at Berekum
when league leaders, Berekum Chelsea put one past Kotoko to take
the full points at stake.
Asante Kotoko’s Coach Bogdan Korak’s
decision to play one man upfront in last Sunday’s Glo Premier
League match against Berekum Chelsea at the
Golden City Park,
especially in the first department of the game contributed
immensely to 0-1 defeat inflicted on the Porcupine Warriors by
the league leaders.
Striker Emmanuel Clottey grabbed the only
goal of the match after 27 minutes when he
profited from a Frank
Boateng’s mistake which gave the ball cheaply to an opponent.
Emmanuel Clottey shot directly on goal with
goalkeeper Isaac Amoako simply having no response to it. The
goal consequently sent the passionate home crowd into jubilant
mood.
The fans sang and drummed throughout the
thrilling encounter. It was easy to tell how much they have come
to believe their players and also understand football to the
extent even when Kotoko played beautifully they applauded the
Porcupines but also booed them for perceived rough play.
Referee Thomas Nunoo and his assistants
managed to handle the game well but there were times that some
of their decisions left much to be desired. The referee for
instance allowed too many rough tackles and was indecisive at
some points – giving corner kicks to Berekum Chelsea even when
they did not deserved it. Tried as Kotoko did to break into the
rear of the strong Chelsea defence, the home team firmly
maintained their grip on the game.
They gave the Porcupines little room to
dominate. The exchanges by the two sides were beautiful –
accurate passes, ball distribution and generally good
organisation from defence to attack.
Both teams showed a lot of brilliance on the
ball despite the fact that the bumpy nature of the pitch and the
dust sometimes made ball control difficult.
Kotoko’s lead attacker, Nathaniel Asamoah
made efforts to overpower the well-built Chelsea defence but to
no avail. Nathaniel Asamoah was powerless as long as
Chelsea’s Edward Kpodo for example kept
an eye on him by dispossessing him in a number of challenges.
It was clear from Nathaniel Asamoah’s output
that had he received maximum support perhaps from another
attacker, the outcome of the game would have been different.
He seemed to have burned too much energy and
lacked the firepower to strike,.
Kotoko actually did not stretch the Chelsea defense as well as not test the
agility of goalkeeper Ernest Sowah who was booked in the 29th
minute for time wasting.
Berekum Chelsea on the other hand tested the
Kotoko rearguards and brought the best out of them – Yaw
Frimpong on the right and Prince Anokye, playing in an
uncharacteristic left-back role. Henry Ohene Brenya and Awal
Mohammed for another time running combined efficiently to drain
the venom out of Bismark Iddan and his strike partner, Emmanuel
Clottey.
Ohene Brenya used his strength a great deal
both in aerial and ground tussles whereas Awal Mohammed also
relied on his towering figure to intercept long balls floated
into the goal area. Awal Moahammed’s ground tackles were
fantastic but this time another brilliant player, Frank Boateng,
playing against his former club did not shine as much he has
done in the two matches prior to the Berekum Chelsea clash.
Boateng dribbled all right but was mostly
unsuccessful in controlling the ball steadfastly and in one
instance terribly lost it thereby leading to the only goal of
the match.
Frank Boateng thus made way for Nafiu
Iddrisu in the second half whose hard work yielded no fruit.
Michael Akuffu, Daniel Nii Adjei, Afranie Yeboah and Harif
Mohammed whose places were later taken by Albert Bruce and Regan
Obeng respectively worked tirelessly but their efforts put
together with that of all the substitutes could not alter the
score line. Kotoko welcomes B. A. Stars to the Baba Yara Sports
Stadium on Wednesday and must win to improve on their 7th
position.
Kotoko line-up: Isaac Amoako, Yaw Frimpong,
Prince Anokye, Ohene Brenya, Awal Mohammed, Michael Akuffu,
Daniel Nii Adjei, Frank Boateng/Nafiu Iddrisu, Nathaniel
Asamoah, Afranie Yeboah/Albert Bruce, Harif Mohammed/Regan
Obeng.
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