Gyamfi, Fatawu give Kotoko win over Chelsea

Kumasi Asante Kotoko maintained their home invincibility in the ongoing Normalisation Committee Special Cup competition when they beat visiting Berekum Chelsea 2-0 at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.

After a barren first half, Emmanuel Gyamfi opened the scoring in the 48th minute when he headed home a corner kick which beat Chelsea’s goalie Gideon Ahenkorah.

Gyamfi had another chance to increase his tally three minutes later after beating goalkeeper Ahenkorah during one of Kotoko’s attacks but the resultant kick missed the goal post by inches.

The agony of the home supporters from Gyamfi's miss was short-lived when the Porcupine Warriors were awarded a penalty kick by centre referee Desmond Abbey, after the Chelsea goalie fouled Obed Owusu Ampong who was in a goal-scoring position in the penalty area of the visiting side.

Abdul Salifu Fatawu expertly converted the spot kick to increase Kotoko’s lead to 2-0 and also take his goal tally to six in seven matches and maintain his position as the leading goal scorer in the competition.

Kotoko dominated the entire game and created more decent chances in the second half, having earlier pinned the visitors to their own half but fell short of hitting the back of the net in the first half.

The first decent scoring chance created by Kotoko came in the 29th minute when defender Wahab Adams headed wide a corner kick after the Chelsea goalie had been displaced, much to the chagrin of the sparse home spectators who thronged the stadium.

Karela pip Liberty Professionals

Karela United completed the first round of the Special Cup competition in style after beating Liberty Professionals 1-0 at the Cosby Awuah Memorial Park at Anyinase yesterday.

The victory ensured the Nzema-based club occupied the summit of the Southern zone log with 13 points.

Enoch Gator’s first-half goal was all the hosts needed to bag the maximum points, and not even the additional eight minutes of added-on time by the referee could help the Scientific Soccer lads to find the equaliser.

Gator headed home Osei Baffour’s free kick in the first half and they almost increased the tally but for the timely interception by Liberty’s Samuel Amofa, who cleared a goal-bound shot.

Liberty returned from recess with a different game plan as they fought in search of the equaliser with Benjamin Eshun’s goal-bound shot saved by Karela goalkeeper, Kofi Mensah.

Scores at a glance

Eleven Wonders 0, Bechem United 0

Asante Kotoko 2, Berekum Chelsea 0

Aduana Stars 1, Medeama 1

Hearts of Oak 2, Inter Allies 0

Ebusua Dwarfs 1, WAFA 0

Dreams FC 0, Elmina Sharks 0

Karela 1, Liberty 0