Abbey’s brace wins day for Hearts
Accra Hearts of Oak striker, Thomas Abbey, scored a brace to help his side defeat Berekum Chelsea 2-0 at the Accra Sports Stadium yesterday and regain the third position on the Premier League log.
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Abbey capitalised on a through ball by Winful Cobinnah in the 41st minute to give the Phobians a well-deserved half time lead.
Five minutes later he was on hand again to tap the ball home from close range for Hearts’ second goal which took his goal haul to 10 this season and just a goal shy of the league’s leading scorer Nicholas Gyan of Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs.
Chelsea striker Stephen Sarfo was the first to make an attempt at goal in the second minute but his header from a cross forced a save by Hearts' goalie Ben Mensah.
Both sides went in search of the opener and Hearts had their turn to test Chelsea's goalie John Moosie only for Patrick Razak to waste a great pass from Cobinnah in the 10th minute.
Four minutes later, Razak again was to miss another chance as he failed to connect home a free header from a free kick by Cobinnah.
As the game progressed in the first half, Kwame Kizito became a dominant figure in the exchanges by threatening the Chelsea defence but he lacked the finishing power to punish them.
The Phobians began the second half dictating the pace as star player Cobinnah caused problems for Chelsea with his fine display in the midfield.
Razak nearly added his name on the score sheet in the 52nd minute after dribbling past two Chelsea defenders only for his shot to be blocked by goalkeeper Moosie.
With the Phobians cruising to victory, Hearts coach Frank Nuttall decided to pull out inform striker Abbey, Samurdeen Ibrahim and Cobinnah and the rest for Sunday's clash against rivals Asante Kotoko by replacing them with Isaac Mensah, Paul Acquah and Robert Addo, respectively.
Any hope by Chelsea to come back into the game faded as their players encountered strong resistance from the Hearts defence built around Robin Gnagne and Vincent Atinga.
Late into the game during added-on time, referee Reginald Lathbridge denied Hearts appeal for penalty when a shot by Razak hit the hand of Chelsea’s defender Justice Anane in the penalty box.