The bottom two sides on the Premier League standings square off at the Tamale Sports Stadium on Saturday, February 4 2023.
Kotoku Royals looked different against Gold Stars thanks to the introduction of new recruits.
Andy Kumi who joined from Bechem United got a brace for Royals in their 3-2 win over Bibiani Gold Stars on Wednesday. John Eduafo’s side will be hoping to make it back to back wins to move from the foot of the League log.
Eduafo’s men will swap League positions with their opponents should they bag all three points away from home.
Tamale City are not without their own problems. They are yet to win a Premier League game in 2023- 3 losses and 2 draws this year.
It promises to be an interesting game as they both aim to ease relegation fears among their fans.
Madagascar strikerJean Razafindrakotohit a late goal to give them a hard-fought 1-0 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) win against Niger on Friday to clinch third place of the competition.
Razafindrokoto scored the winner in the 90th minute to seal the win at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in the Algerian city of Oran.
The win capped a great first CHAN tournament for the Berea who stunned several favourites on their path to the third-place playoff match.
Goalkeeper Mahamadou Djibo could have done better in dealing with a shot from from substitute Tendry Manovo few minutes before the end of the match.
The Niger goalkeeper spilled the ball into Razafindrokoto’s path, alllowing the striker the opportunity to hammer home from inside the box to reduce Niger’s tournament efforts to fourth place.
Coach Harouna Doula Gabde’s team couldn’t recover from the 5-0 semi-final defeat to Algeria on Tuesday as they looked lethargic, three days after suffering the competition’s biggest defeat so far.
They Menas will head home after suffering back-to-back defeats but will be delighted with their performances having edged past continental giants Cameroon and Ghana the earlier stages of the competition.
The Menas never relented even as the Berea dominated possession before the break as they also created scoring opportunities of their own.
Madagascar had the best chance of the half in the second minute of added time as Mario Carlos forced a save from Tanji before the ball fell to Olivier Randriatsiferana who skied from inside the box.
Niger came back from the recess determined to cause an upset with Adamou Ibrahim, Ousseini Badamassi and Hainikoye all missing good scoring opportunities.
Razafindrokoto scored what turned out to be the winner after Djibo deflected a shot from Manovo into the path of the forward who accepted the gift.
The 2022/23 Ghana Premier League contained with match-day 15 fixtures over in mid-week across the venues.
Bechem United secured a thumping win on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
The Hunters showed the ruthless side as they scored six goals past Real Tamale United at the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park. RTU only managed two goals as the game ended 6-2.
Accra Hearts of Oak failed to take the maximum points in their encounter against Legon Cities at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Slavko Matic’s side couldn’t utilise the numerical advantage at home after the Royals were shown a red card four minutes into the second half of the game.
Kotoku Royals ended Bibiani GoldStars’ 12-game unbeaten run in the league after securing a 3-2 victory at home.
Abednego scored in his second consecutive game for the Miners but it wasn’t enough as Andy Kumi scored twice for the newcomers.
King Faisal lost at home to Medeama SC, who were recovering from their last weekend’s loss to Hearts at the Akoon Park. The fixture produced five goals with King Faisal scoring two while Medeama netted three times.
Aduana Stars extended their lead at the summit of the league table with a 1-0 win over Dreams FC away from home. It was also their first win against Dreams in Dawu.
Samartex and Tamale City played out a goalless draw while Nsoatreman also defeated Berekum Chelsea at home.
On Thursday, Asante Kotoko suffered a slender 1-0 defeat to Karela United while Accra Lions thrashed city rivals Great Olympics 3-0 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Scores at a glance;
ACCRA: Hearts of Oak 0-0 Legon Cities
Man of the match: Caleb Amankwah (Hearts Of Oak)
BABA YARA: King Faisal 2-3 Medeama
Scorers: Abdul Latif, Joseph Gordon || Nurudeen Abdulai, Vincent Atinga(pen), Kwasi Donsu
Man of the match: Samuel Boakye (King Faisal)
CAPE COAST: Kotoku Royals 3-2 Goldstars
Scorers: Richard Dzikoe, Francis Andy Kumi(2x, 1pen) || Ibrahim Laar, Abednego Tetteh
Man of the match: Frank Andy Kumi (Kotoku Royals)
FOSU GYEABOUR: Bechem United 6-2 RTU
Scorers: Isaiah Nyarko, Hafiz Wontah Konkoni(3x), Clinton Duodu(2x) || Mohammed Sadat(pen), Mohammed Fuseini
Man of the match: Clinton Duodu (Bechem United)
NSOATRE: Nsoatreman 2-1 Berekum Chelsea
Scorers: Stephen Diyou, Kwabena Kalala Dannful || Mezack Afriyie
Man of the match: Walid Neymar Fuseini (Nsoatreman FC)
DAWU: Dreams 0-1 Aduana Stars
Scorer: Richard Danso
Man of the match: Agyenim Boateng ((Dreams FC)
NSENKYIRE: Samartex 0-0 Tamale City
Man of the match: James Sewornu (FC Samartex)
ANYINASE: Karela United 1-0 Asante Kotoko
Scorer: Samuel Atta Kumi(pen)
Man of the match: Abdul Rahman Yaya (Karela United)
ACCRA: Accra Lions 3-0 Great Olympics
Scorers: Abass Samari, Jacob Amu Mensah(2x)
Man of the match: Abass Samari Salifu (Accra Lions)
Asante Kotoko coach Seydou Zerbo has blamed his outfit for the defeat against Karela United in matchday 15 of the Ghana Premier League.
The Pride of the West managed to secure a 1-0 victory over the Porcupine Warriors on Thursday in Anyinase, ending the Porcupine Warriors’ unbeaten run.
The decisive goal of the match came in the second half, when Samuel Attah Kumi converted a controversial penalty to give Karela United the lead.
Despite their best efforts, Kotoko were unable to equalize, and their unbeaten run came to an end.
They were unbeaten in their last six games, including a 5-1 victory last weekend.
After the game, the Burkinabe asserted his sides defeat was self-inflicted having blew away chances in the encounter.
“The difference is, we had the chances to score goal, we defeated ourselves because we had all the chances to score but we couldn’t score. Eventually, the referee gave unwarranted penalty to them and they have their goal to score” he told StarTimes.
Kotoko now sits outside the top four, four points behind leaders Aduana Stars.
Albert Eonde Diego has been handed his shirt number by Hearts, ahead his debut.
Accra Hearts of Oak have handed the iconic No. 18 shirt to recruit Albert Eonde Diego. The Cameroonian forward was unveiled as Hearts’ new player on Sunday after agreeing on a three-year deal with the Phobians.
Now that he’s officially a Phobian, Diego has been assigned a squad number. The forward will take up the number 18 previously assigned to Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, who has left the club to join FC Zurich.
The No.18 shirt was most famously worn by Ishmael Addo and Mahatma Otoo.
Albert Eonde Diego is likely to make his Hearts debut on Sunday against RTU in Tamale.
Dennis Korsah has been named in the Hearts squad to play RTU on Sunday at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium, Tamale. Korsah had been with the Black Galaxies team that exited the CHAN championship at the quarter-finals.
New recruit Kwabena Anane could make his Hearts debut with his inclusion in the team. There was a place for returnee Victor Aidoo who is on a mission to return the faith reposed in him by Slavko Matic.
The team is currently on its way to the Northen Region.
Find the squad below:
Richmond Ayi Benjamin Nana Yeboah Samuel Inkooom Rashid Okine Zakaria Yakubu Konadu Yiadom Glid Otanga Victor Aidoo Caleb Amankwah Kwadwo Obeng Jr Yassan Ouatching Dennis Korsah Kwabena Anane Faisal Adams Esso Eric Linda Mtange Don Clinton Appiah Salifu Ibrahim Gideon Asante
Two challengers for Bronze medal in the 2022 Championship of Africa Nations square off on Friday, as Niger takes on Madagascar at the Miloud Hadefi stadium in Oran.
Niger were condemned to one of their most embarrassing defeats by tournament hosts, Algeria in their semi final encounter, while Madagascar fell narrowly at the hands of Senegal.
To get this far, the Barrea beat Almighty Ghana and Sudan in the group stages before they thrashed Mozambique by three goals to one in the quarterfinal. Pape Diallo’s early strike for Senegal in the first half saw off the threat of Romuald Rakotondrabe men in their semifinal encounter.
Standing in their way is an opposing side who are without a victory in the previous two meetings between them. Niger head into Friday’s game after they were trounced by Algeria by five goals to zero. There was an evident gulf in class between the two nations, with first-half strikes from Ayoub Abdellaoui, Aymen Mahious and a Katakore Boureima own goal left Harouna Doula’s men with a mountain to climb after which Soufiane Bayazid put the icing on the cake.
Having already surpassed their best-ever finish at the African Nations Championship, it is never any surprise to see Niger flirting with danger but with some pride still left to play for, Dama Gazelle can be trusted to give Madagascar a run for their money.
TEAMS NEWS
Niger coach, Harouna Doula is not expected to make many changes here. Bilyamine Moussa and Faysal Abdoulaye were subbed off in the defeat to Algeria, but they could return for Friday’s duel.
Star forward Koloina Razafindranaivo should still be able to feature for Madagascar after he sealed his move to Algerian side MC Alger two days ago.
Aware of the consequences of defeat, Madagascar are likely to come out firing on all cylinders. Nevertheless, Niger will be more than happy with a draw in stipulated time, leading us to predict a slim victory for the Barea.
Accra Lions continued their fine form in the betPawa Premier League as they put up a scintillating display against Accra Great Olympics on Thursday.
The ever-improving side dispatched Great Olympics 3-0 at the Accra Sports stadium to move joint second in the League. Midfielder Abass Samari and Jacob Mensah – brace got on target as they moved level points Bechem United although the Hunters have a superior goal difference.
Great Olympics dominated play from the blast of the whistle but failed to break through the backline of the home.
Accra Lions broke the deadlock through Abbas Samari Salifu in the 27th minute. The midfielder won the ball and went into a one-two with Baba Apiiga before blasted the ball into the back of the net.
Jacob Mensah soared above the defenders of Great Olympics to head home a Remember Boateng corner in the 42nd minute as Accra Lions went into the break with a 2-0 advantage.
The excellence of Accra Lions resulted in the third goal – Jacob Mensah drilled home from a goalkeeping error.
Accra lions were reduced to ten men – fifteen minutes from time as Jacob Mensah was sent off for a second yellow card.
That notwithstanding, Accra Lions held on to win the game 3-0 – their eighth win of the season.
Congolese giants, TP Mazembe have completed the signing of Ghana defender Abdul Ismail Ganiu.
The club in a statement on Thursday, February 2, said it has signed the experienced forward on a two-year deal.
At TP Mazembe, Abdul Ismail Ganiu has been signed with a lot of expectations and will be given a key role to play.
“TP Mazembe have secured the signing of Ghanaian central defender Ismail Ganiyu (26) on a two-year deal after leaving Al-Talaba of Iraq. He previously played for Asante Kotoko,” an official club statement from the Congolese club said.
In the past, Abdul Ismail Ganiu had various stints with Ghana Premier League clubs Wa All Stars and Karela United.
He has been capped three times by the Black Stars of Ghana and could make a return to the national team if things go well at his new club, TP Mazembe.
