Kofi Kodzi puts Hearts of Oak to the sword
Kofi Kodzi plunged a dagger into his former club as his fine goal on the stroke of half time gave Legon Cities 1-0 victory over Hearts of Oak at the El-Wak Stadium yesterday.
It was a well-deserved victory that could help save Coach Maxwell Konadu's side in their struggle to escape relegation. The ‘Royals’ profited from a tactically disciplined game and commanded the greatest share of possession in the first half against a hapless Hearts side who were looking for a victory to assuage their pain from the embarrassing 1-5 defeat to Medeama last week.
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However, Coach David Ocloo’s side played poorly and easily gave away possession after a few touches throughout the first half and allowed the home side to dictate the pace of the game, perhaps the phobians were lucky to have walked away with a lone goal defeat.
Legon Cities signalled their intention in the early minutes of the match after Sadat Mohammed was presented with a scoring opportunity with a through pass but his shot missed the crossbar narrowly.
Determined to escape relegation, Coach Konadu's players maintained their pressure and gave Hearts very little room to operate as they took control of the midfield with the Phobians’ striker, Kwadwo Obeng Jnr, shut out of the game and barely made any serious threat at goal.
Hearts survive
As the pressure became intense, Hearts goalkeeper, Richard Attah was nearly embarrassed when he spilled an aerial ball but was rescued by defender, Robert Addo Sowah, who cleared the ball on the goal line following which experienced Samuel Inkoom also displayed great alertness to stop an unmarked Kodzi from scoring.
By the 31st minute, Legon Cities looked comfortable and once again breached the Hearts defence through a sweet build-up as Eric Osei Bonsu met a long cross which eluded all the Hearts defenders but the Legon Cities forward fluffed the effort.
Hearts' best chance came in the 35th minute from a free kick when Inkoom sent a long pass to an unmarked Linda Mtange who shot wide as the fans watched in dismay the team’s lack of sharpness in attack.
Hearts looked promising after recess and showed some signs of equalising as they dominated and created several chances but couldn't allow their dominance to count.
Two minutes into the second half, Hearts got the best chance to equalise when Legon Cities' Sadat Mohammed lost the ball in midfield, but Albert Eondo's effort was parried to safety by goalkeeper Sylvester Sackey.
Thereafter, both teams played a rather cautious game but it was Hearts that created a few chances in their attempt to find the equaliser while the hosts guarded their lines to avoid conceding defeat until the game came to an end.
