Asante Kotoko Stop-gap coach Johnson Smith has named his starting line up to face struggling Inter Allies this evening.
The Porcupines will be hosting the Tampico Boys in matchweek 12 of the Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium at 6:00 PM.
Coach Smith has made five changes in the team that drew with Ashantigold last Sunday with Wahab Adams, Latif Anabila, Emmanuel Gyamfi and Naby Keita coming in for Yussif Mubarik, Mudasiru Salifu, Christopher Nettey and Augustine Okrah respectively.
Goalkeeper Razak Abalora has maintained his place in the sticks. He will be flanked by Samuel Frimpong and Imoro Ibrahim with Abdul Ganiu and Wahab Adams forming the backline.
Brazilian midfielder Fabio Gama who has been impressive so far has been handed another start in the attacking midfield position with Naby Keita and Kwame Opoku playing ahead of him in a 4-4-2 formation.
Here is the starting lineup;
Razak Abalora (GK), Samuel Frimpong, Ibrahim Imoro, Abdul Ganiu, Wahab Adams, Emmanuel Sarkodie, Fabio Gama, Latif Anabila, Emmanuel Gyamfi (C), Fabio Gama, Naby Keita, Kwame Opoku.
Medeama SC midfielder, Justice Blay is optimistic that his side will beat Accra Hearts of Oak on Thursday afternoon.
The two sides will face off in a match-day 12 clash of the Ghana Premier League at the Akoon Park.
Both sides enter the tricky tie with a loss from their week 11 fixtures. The Yellow and Mauves suffered a 2-0 defeat in the hands of current leaders Karela United at the CAM Park.
Hearts Of Oak, on the other hand, were beaten by city rivals Great Olympics 2-0 in Accra.
Blay is anticipating a tough game in the afternoon especially in the midfield.
“the game is going to be a midfield battle and Medeama have solid and good midfielders than Hearts of Oak, ” he told Fox FM.
The International Criminal Police Organization, INTERPOL are on the look-out for Ghanaian Midfielder Sulley Muniru over alleged match fixing offenses.
The 28-year old former Asante Kotoko midfielder is wanted by the Accra branch of INTERPOL after a request from their counterpart in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
The INTERPOL also requested for the player’s travel history to assist with their investigation.
below is the letter from INTERPOL to the GIS
Sulley Muniru mutually parted ways with Asante Kotoko in January this year after a short stint in the Ghana Premier League.
Undefeated Accra Lions FC, are in pole position to hold onto their lead in Zone three following their impressive start to the season.
They will come up against Uncle T United FC at the Accra sports stadium in a capital city clash on Wednesday.
Lions began the campaign with a come from behind win against rivals Accra City stars and have since not lost a match winning all four Zone three fixtures.
Coach Rainar Kraft’s men have 12 points and sit at the summit of the Zone three, two points richer than second placed Tema Youth SC who play Krystal Palace in Akosombo on Wednesday.
Lead striker Evans Etti has scored 5 goals for the capital-based club and leads the top scorers chat in Zone three after four round of games.
Evans Etti who excelled at Nkoranza Warriors last season on loan from Karela United, scored a brace in the first game against Accra City stars FC and has had no turning back.
Accra Lions play with tenacity, flair and usually attack through the wings.
Zone Two leaders, Gold Stars will on Wednesday provide a stern test for Skyy FC when the two teams lock horns at Daboase in a Zone two match day 5 encounter.
Gold Stars have gone four games without defeat and will play to protect their lead at the top of the table and keep their unbeaten run intact.
Skyy FC have one of the best home records in the Zone, staying unbeaten at home, a record that dates back to the 2018/19 seasons.
The Daboase side are in fourth place in the standing with 6 points. They dropped points against Samartex last week and that presents Gold Stars a glimmer of hope going into the match on Wednesday.
Ebenezer Ocran of Skyy FC has netted three times in the League and he is in red hot form for the Western boys.
Zone One leaders Berekum Arsenals will host Techiman City at the Golden City park on Thursday, as the national Division One League enters match day five.
The two former Premier League sides will battle for supremacy in their quest to stage a comeback to the elite Division. Berekum Arsenals, are unbeaten in four games and sit at the top of the Zone One table with 10 points.
Their top marks man Ansu Kofi Patrick is in hot form, scoring 4 goals in four matches in the ongoing season and will be crucial to the team against the Techiman side.
Techiman City sit in 12th place in the League table with 4 points with a game in hand.
Manchester United are Premier League record-breakers AGAIN after a stunning 9-0 win over Southampton at Old Trafford. FFT sccuried to the record books for these all-time biggest tonkings
10=. Nottingham Forest 1-8 Manchester United (1999)
Poor Forest. Manchester United recorded the Premier League’s biggest ever away win at the City Ground in February 1999. Dwight Yorke had opened the scoring inside two minutes, Alan Rogers levelled it up shortly after, but Andy Cole restored the advantage before seven minutes were on the clock. And yet astonishingly, this game was only 2-1 at half-time.
Even with 10 minutes to go it was ‘only’ 4-1 after Yorke and Cole had both completed braces. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – a 72nd-minute entrant – didn’t get his supersub tag for nothing, and netted four in the final exchanges. It’s still a record for a substitute.
Ron Atkinson’s Forest were relegated at the end of the season – they’ve never been back since – while Alex Ferguson’s side achieved the greatest season in English football history. Decent enough.
10=. Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City (2008)
When Sven-Goran Eriksson rocked up at the Riverside to face Middlesbrough on the final day of the 2007/08 season, his future already seemed decided after a shocking run of form after Christmas. City had been third in November before things went south very suddenly.
And so to their Teesside humiliation. Afonso Alves scored a hat-trick, Stewart Downing got two, while Adam Johnson, Fabio Rochemback and Jeremie Aliadiere all helped themselves to goals in the final 20 minutes.
The Eastlands outfit finished ninth and Sven was finally put out of his misery by owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who’d wanted to pull the trigger since April. Gareth Southgate’s Boro ended 13th… but then dropped out of the top flight the following campaign.
5=. Chelsea 8-0 Wigan (2010)
Chelsea knew a victory on the final day of the season would secure them their first title since 2006. Suffice to say, they didn’t muck about in getting it done.
Didier Drogba got a hat-trick and Nicolas Anelka added two more, while Ashley Cole, Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard were also among a beleaguered Latics’ nemeses. Unsurprisingly, Wigan ended the season with a goal difference of -42… and this wasn’t even their worst humbling of the campaign.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea became the first team in English history to score seven or more goals on four occasions in a league season. They also became the first Premier League side to bag 100 in a season after putting away a club-record 103 in the campaign.
5=. Manchester City 8-0 Watford (2019)
One of four 8-0 wins in Premier League history – but this time City were on the right end of a trouncing.
Their opening salvo was astonishing at the Etihad Stadium: David Silva scored after 52 seconds, and within 18 minutes they were 5-0 up after goals from Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Nicolas Otamendi.
Mercifully for Watford there was a breather – but the Hornets crumbled again within three minutes of the second half and allowed Bernardo his hat-trick by the hour mark. Kevin De Bruyne put the cherry on top with five minutes remaining to cap a masterful individual display.
5=. Chelsea 8-0 Aston Villa (2012)
Paul Lambert’s Aston Villa suffered their biggest Premier League defeat in December at Stamford Bridge – and it could have been even worse had Lucas Piazon not seen an 89th-minute penalty saved.
After a smashing 3-1 away win at Anfield a week earlier, the Villans went into this game full of confidence; confidence which was quickly shattered when Fernando Torres opened the scoring within three minutes. David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic added more before the break, while Frank Lampard, Ramires (two), Oscar and Eden Hazard all got among the fun before full-time.
It was the first – and still the only – time that seven players from one team have scored in a Premier League match. The result was Rafa Benitez’s biggest victory in English football, eclipsing the 6-0 win he achieved with Liverpool over Derby in 2007.
5=. Newcastle 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday (1999)
Ruud Gullit resigned after Newcastle lost four of their first five games in the 1999/00 campaign, paving the way for Bobby Robson to arrive on Tyneside in September. The Magpies had lost two more before this game, but made Bobby’s St. James’ Park debut against Sheffield Wednesday one to remember as the Gallowgate Godfather pulled off a famous victory.
Five goals from Alan Shearer (including two penalties), plus efforts from Aaron Hughes, Kieron Dyer and Gary Speed helped the Geordies kick-start their season. They eventually finished 11th.
4. Tottenham 9-1 Wigan (2009)
Tottenham finished fourth in 2009/10, meaning they qualified for Europe’s elite competition for the first time since 1962. This result certainly did that achievement no harm as they ended the campaign three points ahead of Manchester City.
Let it be remembered that Spurs were only 1-0 ahead at half-time in this obliteration of a carefree Wigan. Forty-two minutes passed between Peter Crouch’s ninth-minute opener and Jermain Defoe’s first of five goals on this most profitable of afternoons at White Hart Lane. Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar were also on target in north London.
It was only the second time that a Premier League side had scored nine goals, and the third that a player had netted five in a Premier League match. Wigan still finished six points above the relegation zone.
1=. Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich (1995)
It’s largely forgotten now that Ipswich had beaten Manchester United 3-2 earlier this season – one of only seven victories all campaign as they finished bottom and were relegated. This result, the Premier League’s record defeat, was a little more befitting of their campaign in which they finished 21 points from safety.
Unlike a lot of the trouncings in this list, goals here were neatly spread throughout the game – consistent haplessness from the Tractor Boys, if you will.
Andy Cole helped himself to five, Mark Hughes plundered two, while Roy Keane and Paul Ince both added solitary strikes in what was United’s biggest victory for 103 years. Blackburn claimed the title that season, though, with Fergie’s men finishing second.
1=. Southampton 0-9 Leicester (2019)
A year on from the death of their beloved chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha after a horrific helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium, Leicester players did justice to the man behind their Premier League title with this devastating display on the south coast.
Southampton were onto a hiding in the 10th minute when Ben Chilwell slotted Leicester ahead, and in the same passage saw Ryan Bertrand sent off via a VAR-assisted decision. It was 3-0 inside 19 minutes courtesy of efforts from Youri Tielemans and Ayoze Perez, who ended the game with a hat-trick. James Maddison netted a wonderful eighth with a free-kick, sandwiching hat-trick goals from Jamie Vardy – the last, a stoppage-time penalty which befitted this all-time biggest Premier League away win. Advertisement
1=. Manchester United 9-0 Southampton (2021)
Nine goals, eight scorers and two red cards. Not just a Premier League record – equalling both Leicester and, er, themselves – but an exciting one even by those high standards.
Things began brightly, for neutrals at least, with Alexandre Jankewitz dismissed for the Saints less than two minutes into his debut.
It took a further 16 minutes for United to nab their first, but the floodgates opened after that: it was 4-0 by half-time, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani and a Jan Bednarek own goal all contributing to an embarrassing scoreline.
With three minutes to go, however, this game wasn’t set to make our list; Southampton were settling in for a straightforward 6-0 trouncing.Advertisement
Then up pops Bednarek again. A VAR-assisted red card for the Pole meant Bruno Fernandes made it seven from the penalty spot, Anthony Martial slotted an eighth in the last minute of normal time, and Daniel James finished off the evening late into injury time.
And somehow, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side are on the wrong side of this scoreline for the second time in two seasons.
Former Aduana Stars defender, Caleb Amankwah has debunked reports that he has spoken to Ghana Premier League giants Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko for a possible move.
Reports in the local media asserted that the former West African Football Academy [WAFA] guardian had entered contract negotiation talks with the two clubs.
He revealed that several clubs including Tarkwa-based Medeama SC, Ashantigold SC and Legon Cities FC.are in talks with him to secure his services.
“I’ve not spoken to Kotoko or Hearts for a possible move, I don’t have any Hearts official contact so it astonished me how people are linking me to Hearts of Oak I heard as everyone heard but it’s not true that I’m joining Hearts of Oak,” Amankwah told Kumasi-based EZRA 94.1 FM.
“There are several teams that are talking to me Medeama, Legon Cities and Ashgold have all spoken with my manager but my manager and I are not in a hurry to take any decision. We trying to make a good choice out of the teams.
“It’s every player’s dream to travel abroad and I’m not an exception, there are other teams from abroad that need my services but I can’t disclose it now.
He, however, indicated that he would consider a move to Kotoko if they approach him.
“Kotoko is a big club and it’s every player’s dream to play for them but if they have not approached me I can’t force myself on them but when they come and the offer is good I will consider.“
Cameroonian referee, Antoine Max Depadoux Effa Essouma has been appointed to officiate Asante Kotoko’s CAF Confederations Cup game against Algerian side ES Setif.
On Sunday 14 February 2021, the Porcupine Warriors will play the Algerian giants at the Accra Sports Stadium in the final round 1st leg of the CAF Confederations Cup.
Fellow countryman Sanda Oumarou (Assistant Referee I), Ernest Nkeniji Ekokobe (Assistant Referee II) and Justus Mbelle Mbelle (Fourth Official) will be assisting the 35-year-old.
Match Commissioner for the game will be Prince Kai Saquee from Seirra Leone whilst David Kofi Prince Pambo from Ghana will serve is the COVID-19 Officer.
The match is scheduled to kick start at 3pm at the Accra sports stadium.
