Hearts of Oak were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at home by 10-man Legon Cities in a 2022/23 betPawa Ghana Premier League (GPL) match-day 15 clash on Wednesday.
A quite exciting first half at Accra Sports Stadium ended goalless with both teams striking the woodwork from free-kick efforts.
Legon Cities left-back Eric Osei Bonsu watched his shot ricochet off the left side of a completely beaten goalkeeper Richmond Ayi’s post. In the final minute of added time before the break, Linda Mtange’s beautiful strike sailed into the right post of goalkeeper Sylvester Sackey. And his teammates failed to pounce on the resultant loose ball.
Hearts started the second half on the front foot causing all sorts of problems for the visitors.
Then, four minutes after that, Gyashie Nortey was given a straight red card for bringing down Clinton Appiah who was bursting free on a counterattack.
Finding it difficult to break down the 10-man Royals, coach Slavko Matic changed to a 3-back system by throwing in more attackers.
One of the substitutes, Enock Asubonteng nearly broke the deadlock when his strike from inside the box skimmed the crossbar in the 88th minute.
An 11-minute stoppage time by referee Maxwell Hanson eventually turned 18 after Hearts goalkeeper Ayi picked up a head injury during an attempt to make up for a blunder he had caused.
Upon resumption, substitute right-back Richard Acquaah, who had replaced the injured Michael Ampadu, sent a cross into the box for Abdul Rahman but the attacker’s one-time connection sailed over the bar.
Following the barren stalemate, Hearts of Oak move their tally to 25 points from 15 games while Legon Cities drop to 14th on 18 points.
Hearts defender Caleb Amankwah received the man-of-the-match award.
