Ghana Premier League: A complete guide to why Kotoko is losing out on the title race
The Ghana Premier League title race appears to be slipping away from record-winners Asante Kotoko and the loss to arch-rivals Hearts of Oak on Sunday painted yet a clearer image about the season of the Porcupine Warriors.
In a broader expansion of battles among the top four clubs in the league every single point drop or won against an opponent counts and Kotoko have not fared very well. Kotoko have not won against Hearts Oak (1st), Great Olympics (3rd) and Medeama SC (4th).
Hearts picked four (4) points from Kotoko after beating them on Sunday and picking a point from the reverse fixture staged in Accra. Great Olympics beat Kotoko 1-0 leading to the sacking of Maxwell Konadu in December 2020 and shared the spoils in a 0-0 stalemate with them in mid-April. Medeama, 4th, posted a 2-1 win over Kotoko at the Accra Sports Stadium in late April. Prior to that Kotoko had travelled to Tarkwa to hold Kotoko to a 1-1 draw.
Out of the available 18 points in the top four contest Kotoko picked only three (3) – (D3 L3) and lost 15.
On the contrary, leaders Hearts of Oak have collected 5 points more than Kotoko from other top four clubs. (W2 D2 L1). Third-placed Great Olympics however have the best numbers after picking three wins and three draws. (W3 D3).
Mariano Barreto’s side have not beaten of the Premier League top four contenders and this makes the title race now difficult for them. Kotoko are playing second fiddle to Hearts who top the league table with 59 points, 3 better than Kotoko.
This season’s league will be decided on Head to Head score and any event of two clubs being on points tie, head to head ranking will be used to separate the two clubs.
Kotoko have lost one game fewer than Hearts (6) but the Phobians have also won more games, 2 more than Kotoko’s 15.
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Source: Sports
