Hearts of Oak and Ashanti Gold share spoils in GPL clash

Hearts of Oak and Ashanti Gold shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw in their Ghana Premier League clash on Thursday.

The fixture at the Accra Sports Stadium closed off matchweek eight's round of games, with eight games having taken place on Wednesday.

The draw leaves the Phobians ninth on the league table, five places adrift of The Miners.

Hearts coach Edward Nii Odoom made one change to the side that beat Dreams FC 1-0 on Sunday, replacing the suspended Benjamin Afutu with Nurudeen Abdul Aziz.

AshGold coach Kasim Gokyildiz, on the other hand, handed starting berths to Roland Amouzou and Emmanuel Osei Baffour who both missed a 1-0 win over Ebusua Dwarfs on Sunday. James Akaminko and injured Amos Addai lost their places in the line-up.

The hosts started the game on the front foot, forcing the visitors' defence into shaky mode. That said, it was not until the 15th minute before Ashanti Gold goalkeeper Frank Boateng was called into proper action as he had to react well to save Robert Addo's header.

AshGold hit back with their first real chance, but Hearts goalkeeper Richard Atta produced an acrobatic save on 36 minutes to keep the score unchanged.

Two minutes later, Daniel Afriyie spurned a glorious opportunity to put the Phobians in the lead as he failed to convert from just two yards after goalkeeper Boateng fumbled in his attempt to handle a corner.

Just moments into the second half, Afriyie had another good chance to make amends but the attacker messed up again, this time shooting feebly into the arms of Boateng after being sent one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Then Atta was called into action with a save at the other end after Appiah McCarthy shot from long range.

Three minutes after referee Adaari Abdul Latif ignored a Hearts penalty shout, the Phobians found the back of the net only to see the goal denied for offside.

Five minutes to full-time, Hearts went close once again but Kofi Kordzi's glancing header went off target, the attacker having connected to a Benjamin Eshun cross.

Both teams attempted late efforts to snatch all three points but a lack of purposefulness upfront ensured the points were shared.