Karela were awarded a penalty kick on the hour mark
Karela United reignited their hopes of staying up in the Ghana Premier League after the season with a narrow victory against Asante Kotoko SC on Thursday afternoon at CAM Park.
The 'Pride and Passion' outfit defied the odds to claim a vital 1-0 win over the defending champions to get out of the danger zone and also a perfect start for the new head coach.
With Shaibu Ibrahim Tanko being in charge of his very first game since taking over as head coach of Karela made a few changes to the squad that lost narrowly to Great Olympics last weekend.
Evans Adomako, Souradjou Alhassan and Richard Berko were relegated to the bench for Samuel Atta Kumi, Emmanuel Owusu Boakye and Isaac Donkor amongst others.
Kotoko gaffer Seydou Zerbo made only one change to the team that walloped Kotoku Royals 5-1 at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi last Sunday with new boy Rashid Nortey getting his first start.
Nortey who joined the Porcupine family this transfer window replaced Richmond Nii Lamptey in the starting lineup.
The defending champions had the upper hand in the first period of the match in terms of possession but failed to make it count in goals.
Steven Dese Mukwala and Eric Serge Zeze had some decent opportunities to which they failed to connect.
Midfielder Enoch Morrison was unlucky when his effort in the 24th minute hit the framework of the goal and went out.
Karela were awarded a penalty kick on the hour mark after defender Mohammed Sherrif brought down an opponent unnecessarily inside the box.
Attah Kumi stepped up and got the ball behind the net for the opening goal of the matchday 15 encounter.
Karela held on to their advantage for the remaining minutes of the match to make they claimed the maximum points to move out of the relegation zone.
The Nzema-Aiyinase-based outfit is now 13th on the league standings with 19 points, two more away from the drop.
Kotoko drops a place down and out of the top four after their defeat. They are 5th placed on the log with four points behind leaders Aduana Stars.
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