Accra Hearts of Oak survived a scare from their Senegalese opponents, Jeane d'Arc to draw 1-1 in an African Champions League match at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
The Senegalese kicked off and dictated the pace with excellent inter positional play as left winger, Diallo Mamadu Alien and centre forward Camara Mame Gana wove through the Hearts defence with ease.
In the fifth minute, Gana sneaked through the Hearts defence, but froze at the approach of goalkeeper Sammy Adjei and shot wide.
Alien sent the stadium into a graveyard silence in the 12th minute when he capitalised on a defence error by Stephen Tetteh to riffle in a right footer for the opener.
Ironically, but for the resilience of Tetteh, the Senegalese would have gone two up in the 19th minute, when Alien sidestepped two defenders and had the goal on sight, but Tetteh slid to hook the ball to corner.
Hearts came close to equalising in the 33rd minute when Emmanuel Osei Kuffour did a great run down the left flank but, his final pass to Robert Saba, was chipped to corner by Deme Mamadu Issah.
Hearts increased the tempo of the game and won a corner kick on the right flank in the 44th minute. Dan Quaye fired a grounder, which was hammered in by Osei Kuffuor for the leveller.
In the early stages of the second half, Hearts brought in Ishmael Addo, Charles Taylor and Kenneth Sarpong for Kwami Ali, Emmanuel Donkor and Robert Saba in a bid to increase their attacking options.
The "deadly trio" kept the Senegalese goal area boiling with crisp passes and great sprinting down the flanks, but the final ball was always caged or booted away by the resolute Senegalese defencemen.
The best chance for Hearts in this half fell to Addo in the 64th minute when goalkeeper Mbengue Papa Momar lost grip of the ball after a save, but Addo tucked it wide on the turn.
In the 73rd minute, Osei Kuffuor meandered through four Senegalese defenders and set himself up to score, but was denied by the agility of keeper Mbengue.
Jeane d'Arc tried to surprise Hearts on the break but Stephen Tetteh, Jacob Nettey and Abu Samed held them in check till Cameroonian referee Njike Gilbert ended proceedings after five minutes of injury time.
In a post match interview with GNA Sports, Coach Jones Attuquayefio admitted it was a difficult match for Hearts.
"Nothing is wrong with my team. We have already qualified and it is just proper that the boys play cautiously in order not to receive unnecessary cards".
He said he had anticipated a difficult match because the Senegalese would not like to be over-ridden once more.
On the double header grand finale between Hearts and Esperance of Tunisia, Jones said, "we have three weeks to heal our injuries and straighten our rough edges. We shall be in shape to win the cup as a birthday gift to the club and a millennium present to all Ghanaians
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
