Asante Kotoko came away with a 0-0 draw from a traditionally tough fixture against Aduana FC in their 2020/21 Ghana Premier League match-day 27 visit to Nana Agyeman Badu (NAB) I Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The hosts started the match in a spirited mood, controlling much of possession but were unable to make it count.
Kotoko quickly found their rhythm and began forcing Aduana to coil into their shells.
Samuel Bioh, who struck the dagger in the hearts of the Porcupine faithful when they first met in Accra in January, nearly fetched the opener for Aduana but his long drive was equally dealt with by goalkeeper Razak Abalora.
In the 7th minute, Bioh again went close to breaking the deadlock but could not direct his header after being feeding on a sweet cross from Sam Adams.
Kotoko thought they had the opener after Mudasiru Salifu struck beautifully from the edge of the area but the ball went just wide.
Aduana were left off the hook after goalkeeper Joseph Addo’s clearance went straight to Kotoko right-back Christopher Nettey who went for goal from the halfway line but Farouk Adams cleared the ball off the line.
It was not long as the Fire Boys had a penalty shout waved off by referee Julian Nunoo. Aduana forward Bright Adjei was bundled off the ball by Mudasiru. The Kotoko midfielder was just lucky as the incident could have resulted in a spot-kick.
In the 36th minute, Aduana had a perfect chance to go ahead but Sam Adams did not keep his composure as his effort was parried off the bar by goalkeeper Abalora.
The hosts went close again just a minute after the miss by Adams. Centre-back Nurudeen Abdulai headed his ball against the upright with Abalora rooted to the ground.
On 42 minutes, Adams was presented with another clear opportunity to put his side ahead but he again fluffed his line as Abalora made a big save to deny him.
Kotoko defender Ismael Ganiu put in a last-ditch tackle to deny Bioh from firing Aduana in front from close range just before referee Nunoo brought an eventful first-half proceedings to an end.
The visitors returned from recess with lots of zeal in their bid to open the scoring. The Kumasi-based lads nearly got the first goal after breaking free in Aduana’s half but Fabio Gama failed to glide the final pass to Nettey who was unmarked.
Kotoko coach Mariano Barreto made two quick substitutions, replacing Emmanuel Keyekeh and Augustine Okrah with Latif Anabila and Evans Adomako respectively.
Former Vendsyssel FC forward Solomon Sarfo Taylor also came on for captain Emmanuel Gyamfi.
Habib Mohammed nearly gifted Aduana a chance in the 65th minute after failing to control the ball in the box but the defender was lucky to have the second bite of the cherry after the ball hit the shin of Bright Adjei and bounced back to him.
After 75 minutes, Kotoko finally created a decent chance with a fine pass by Anabila to open the defense of Aduana, but striker Andy Kumi reacted slowly as goalkeeper Joseph Addo superbly timed his run to tip the ball to corner.
Adomako tested Addo with a fine drive on the edge of the box but the goalkeeper calmly dealt with it.
Kotoko appeared much more organized in the final embers of the game but failed to bury their half-chances to go ahead.
The result sees Aduana move to 40 points while Kotoko, now on 47, go one above arch-rivals Hearts of Oak who host Berekum Chelsea Sunday night.
Aduana FC’s Samuel Bioh was named NASCO man-of-the-match.
