Hearts of Oak returned to winning ways by beating high-flying Accra Lions 3-1 at the Accra Sports Stadium on Thursday to round off match-day 7 of the 2022/23 Ghana Premier League (GPL).
Not even an early red card could change the fortunes of the Phobians who were up against a side that had won 5 games on the bounce.
Skipper Gladson Awako put Hearts in the lead against the run of play with a sweet left-foot strike in the 23rd minute.
That’s an absolute cracker of a goal from Gladson Awako🔥!@AccraLionsFC 0 : 1 @HeartsOfOakGH
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— StarTimes Ghana (@startimesghana) November 17, 2022
But the experienced midfielder was sent off 6 minutes later. This was after he traded words with centre referee Emmanuel Otoo who had just shown him a yellow card for a poor challenge on Lions winger Hagan Frimpong.
Hearts, however, did not look like a side down with 10 men after coach Slavko Matić responded to the sending-off with the introduction of Gild Otanga from the bench.
The Congolese would go on to profit from an uncharacteristic mistake by Lions captain Dominic Nsobila to win a penalty for Hearts early in the second half. Gifted possession in midfield, Otanga – who had progressed the ball into the box – got clipped while attempting to round goalkeeper Andrews Owusu to score.
Salifu Ibrahim stepped up for the spot-kick, which he converted to make it 2-0 for Hearts in the 49th minute.
"Well taken penalty!" Salifu Ibrahim hit that with ease.@AccraLionsFC 0 : 2 @HeartsOfOakGH
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— StarTimes Ghana (@startimesghana) November 17, 2022
Substitute Basit Seidu halved the deficit for Accra Lions with a free header from a corner kick in the 80th minute.
Superb header from Bassit Seidu!@AccraLionsFC 1 : 3 @HeartsOfOakGH
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— StarTimes Ghana (@startimesghana) November 17, 2022
Then Benjamin Yorke – who also came on for Kwadwo Obeng Junior in the 81st minute – put the Hearts win beyond doubt in the second minute of stoppage time with a shot from just outside the box that the Lions goalkeeper made a hash of.
Benjamin Yorke's shot was too fiery for the GK!@AccraLionsFC 1 : 3 @HeartsOfOakGH
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— StarTimes Ghana (@startimesghana) November 17, 2022
The game ended 3-1, marking the third victory in four games for Hearts head coach Matić.
As a result of their second loss in 7 games, Accra Lions remain second on the log with 15 points while Hearts also climb to 6th with 12.
Lions have a date in Kumasi against King Faisal on match-day 8. Hearts will host Dreams FC at the Accra Sports Stadium.
