Match Report: Hearts of Oak draws with Liberty Professionals

Hearts of Oak shared the spoils with city-rivals Liberty Professionals in a 0-0 contest at the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday afternoon in the NC Special Competition.

Hearts had the opportunity to take the lead in the first-half when the center referee award a penalty to the Phobians after defensive midfielder Benjamin Afutu Kotey was fouled inside the box. But, forward Joseph Esso elected him and sent the ball crashing into the crossbar. It becomes the second time the attacker has miss a penalty kick in the competition after wasting a kick against Dwarfs.

Fans on attendance in Osu were pushed to the edge of their seats as Hearts urged closer and piled pressure on their visitors but the Premier B leaders were unable to find the back of the net.

The outcome of the game has stretched Hearts’ winless run against Liberty at the Accra Sports Stadium to three games and are yet to record a win the second week of the month of May against any side at the same venue three times on a bounce. The last time the Phobians triumphed against Liberty at the venue was in 2016.

Liberty Professionals have become the first side to pick a point from the Accra Sports Stadium in the competition while Hearts drew for the first time in the competition.

Hearts missed right-back Christopher Bonney who was serving suspension due to yellow card accumulation while left-back William Dankyi recovered in time to start the game.

Kim Grant’s men had target another glittering performance against the Dansoman-based side but the visitors displayed great resilience in either halves.

Liberty coach Reginald Asante was left to shuffle his tactics when Michael Enu was sent off for a foul on Esso. Esso was accelerating towards goal after latching on to a beautifully calibrated crossfield pass from goalkeeper Richmond Ayi but the Liberty defender hacked him down.

Michelle Sarpong and Manaf Gumar enjoyed glorious moments in the game as they both came close but failed to nail their chances. Gumar was played through in the second-half and had only the keeper to beat but the agile glovesman parried his goal-bound effort wide.

Liberty substitute Hegan Frimpong motored the flanks with his flair, grace and durability as he took the Phobian defence to task despite playing with ten men. In one of such moves, he exchanged passes with Emmanuel Addo and Michael Ampadu before seeing a well-taken effort ricochet off the ball.

Hearts needed to depend on the expertise of center-back Mohammed Alhassan to stay in the game as he placed his soul on the ground to block a goal-bound effort darted by the Liberty forward.

Kim Grant’s newly found super-sub Kofi Kordzi took the place of the lackluster Kwadwo Obeng Junior and exerted decent influence in the game though his final deliveries always let him down.

In one moment the Togolese was presented with a glorious chance when Liberty keeper Ganiwu Shaibu had committed himself in a wrongly calculated move and the Liberty defence caught off-guard but he steered his effort into the crossbar much to the disbelieve of the home fans.

Hearts piled late pressure while Liberty dwell more on game management antics causing the referee to extend the game eight minutes of added-time.

Kordzi, Selasi Bakai and substitute Malik Akowuah all tried their luck from range but were unable to break the deadlock before the game petered out.

Hearts of Oak XI: Michelle Sarpong, Umar Manaf, Richmond Ayi (GK), Abdul Fatawu Mohammed, William Dankyi, Robert Addo Sowah, Mohammed Alhassan, Daniel Kodie, Benjamin Afutu Kotey, Joseph Esso, Kojo Obeng Jnr.

Liberty XI: Ganiwu Shaibu (GK), Michael Sefah, Michael Enu, Michael Ampadu, Prosper Avor, Emmanuel Addo Rou, Frederick Ansah Botchway, Simon Zibo, Leonard Amasimeku, Elvis Kyei Baffour, Benjamin Eshun