Foovi Aguidi
Togolese international forward Foovi Komi Aguidi earned derby bragging rights for Hearts of Oak over city-rivals Great Olympics in the Accra Derby on Saturday evening in the Ghana Premier League late kick-off.
The 23-year-old capped his recent renaissance with a quick-witted finish in the 21st-minute following a masterful run by youngster Maxwell Boakye after cutting the Olympics defense into size.
Though the tie failed to produce the numbers compared to the first-round reverse fixture which brought over 15,000 fans to Osu to watch the game, the results kept the dominant Hearts of Oak in happy mood as referee Cecil Fletcher ended the tie after seven minutes of stoppage time.
Hearts coach Herbert Addo dropped whizkid Isaac Mensah to the bench as his alteration to his squad that drew against AshantiGold on Monday saw three major chances with Emmanuel Hayford among the starters, as well as South African Shaun Mason October.
His Olympics counterpart Yaw Acheampong did not have veteran midfielder Godwin Attram available for the tie and named Isaac Nyarko in his place.
The Wonder Club opened the game with admirable calmness despite pressure from Hearts and came close on a couple of occasions though they failed to beat Tetteh Luggard who was in post for his second straight game of the season.
After a morass of mistakes from the Olympics midfield, Hearts took charge of the tie with MVP winner Mohammed Fatawu bossing the midfield with his visionary moving game and brilliant interceptions, overshadowing Nyarko and the rest of the Olympics midfielders.
As the tie wore on in the first-half, Hearts claimed the lead and what happened to be the match-winner. Maxwell Boakye who was among the new introductions by Addo, picked a midfield pass from Emmanuel Hayford and outran his marker before emerging inside the box.
He tracked back and located Aguidi inside the box, the Togolese forward artfully applied a control that beat Ofoe Ofotsu and Owusu Sefa before picking his spot with a brilliant low drive for his second goal in two games for Hearts.
Richard Kingson had to make two second-half saves to prevent Olympics from going down by more than a goal, though Olympics also wasted a glorious chance at the later stages of the game.
LINE-UPS
Hearts of Oak: T Luggard, M Fatawu (MVP), S October, R Gnagne, F Inusah, E Laryea, M Issah, M Boakye, E Hayford, E Kumi, F Aguidi.
Olympics XI: Kingston, O Ofotsu (c), Owusu Sefa, D Quaye, I Nyarko, B Arthur, E Mantey, K Boateng, N Bruce, F Okine, A Ampofo
