Hi everyone. I have been unable to be here because my office was gutted by fire. Hence my absence. Thanks for understanding.

USA’s President Obama was in Ghana for the weekend and the whole freaking country was at a fumbling standstill. And they say it was due to security arrangements.

So much so that blogging was virtually an impossibility. Goodness…

Anyway, that aside the Glo Premier League train still rolled on. Now as it stands the league title will be decided on the final day of the season.

Yesterday’s games saw to it that the point’s difference between clubs makes it difficult determining who gets relegated. The struggle to avoid the drop however remains uncertain.

Two more clubs would be joining Sporting Mirren and that would be decided on the final day.

Accra Hearts of Oak returned top of the league and now they just need to win their final day game to seal league title number 20.

But that may come at a high cost as the Phobians extended their winless run to nine games. At the Golden City Park they could only manage a draw with Berekum Arsenals. Now they have a slim one-point ahead of Kotoko, who suffered a defeat.

Shocking as it was, I was surprised that they lost to AshGold, who are fighting a serious relegation battle down there. Suffice it to say that AshGold played at the Len Clay Stadium but one would have expected the Reds to do better.

Kotoko would need to win their last game and hope for a Hearts of Oak defeat. That is highly unlikely. The last day’s fixtures reads like this for the two teams:

July 19th
Hearts – Mirren
Kotoko – Faisal

Imagine that! Mirren have already been relegated and have nothing but pride to play for. If Hearts lose, I shall personally endorse a public lynching of coach Nii Noi Thompson (just kidding!)

Kotoko, on the other hand, play a Faisal team that badly needs a win to really clamp their position for next season’s Caf Confederation’s Cup. As it stands, King Faisal are fourth on 45 points, just one behind Heart of Lions.

Now, a win for Faisal and they are through – comfortably – to Africa. Even a draw may suffice, as the team behind them – Bechem Chelsea with 42 points – will also be hoping Faisal stutter so that they may go to Africa on a possible goals aggregate.

Well, I should say that it has been years since I saw a league finish decided on the last day in such a fashion. Brilliant, I say.

Hasaacas improved their chances of beating the drop after winning 3-1 over Real Tamale United at the Sekondi Sports Stadium. The result rather sees RTU slip into the bottom three.

Liberty Professionals won 4-1 against Wa All Stars. The Liberty guys are still escaping relegation.

Don’t forget about the thing called ‘goal difference’!
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Sporting Mirren failed in their bid to rise above the relegation zone after Kumasi based King Faisal held them to a barren draw yesterday in their 19 week Premier League game at the Ohene Djan Stadium. The clash, the final of the Week 19 fixtures ensured the newly promoted club is still firmly rooted at the bottom with 15 points from a potential 57.

Faisal who finished the game with a man-less after Abdul Samad Oppong was sent off in the 74 minute held their own against their hosts whose attackers completely lacked ideas in front of goal.

Earlier in the weekend, these were the scores of the other games:

Accra
Liberty 0 AshGold 1

Tema
Tema Youth 1 Eleven Wise 0

Sekondi
Hasaacas 1 Hearts 1

Wa
All Stars 1 Kessben 0

Tamale
RTU 2 Arsenal 0

Sunyani
Chelsea 2 All Blacks 2

Kumasi
Kotoko 0 Lions 1

And so at the end of week 19, Hearts of Oak are still top with 41 points, Kwesi Nyantakyi’s ever improving Wa All Stars are second with 32 followed by the solid Heart of Lions on 31.

Fourth place goes to King Faisal after their one point last night and then comes Tema Youth and Bechem Chelsea. At the other end of the table who would have imagined that Liberty Professionals would occupy the 12th spot?

Hasaacas are 13th, Gamba All Blacks follow with AshGold still at number 15.

Club (points)

Hearts (41)
All Stars (32)
Lions (31)
King Faisal (31)
Tema Youth (28)
Chelsea (28)
Eleven Wise (28)
Arsenals (26)
Kotoko (25)
Kessben (24)
RTU (24)
Liberty (22)
Hasaacas (20)
All Blacks (20)
AshGold (18)
Sp. Mirren (15)

This is what the scores mean on the table.

Hearts are still on top and Mirren are still below.

Some musical chairs, then, as some teams have dropped badly after previously healthy positions. And oh, get some “Karma” lyrics from Alicia Keys for the musical chairs, eh?

Club (points)

1. Hearts (40)
2. King Faisal (30)
3. All Stars (29)
4. Wise (28)
5. Lions (28)
6. Chelsea (27)
7. B Arsenals (26)
8. Kotoko (25)
9. Tema Youth (25)
10. Kessben (24)
11. Liberty Prof (22)
12. RTU (21)
13. All Blacks (19)
14. Hasaacas (19)
15. AshantiGold (15)
16. Mirren (14)

Sadly, at the time the game ended, he’d been beaten.

Twice – by Tevez and Carrick.

So then, without much ado, here are the highlights of the game.

No matter, though. For Ghanaian fans, what matters is that he is playing at all – especially with the qualifiers just around the corner.

Berekum Arsenals – Kotoko

The critics gave been giving them a real bashing of late. And indeed reputations count for nothing if you cannot get up after you fall especially in front of your own supporters so Berekum Arsenals kept their unbeaten home run intact after coming back from a goal down to beat Asante Kotoko 3-1.

The Gunners have not lost a league game at the Golden City Park stretching over two seasons but they were made to work for the win after Alex Asamoah put the champions in front after eight minutes.

Attakora Gyimah drew Arsenals level before the break and a brace in the second half by Francis Aggrey condemned the champions to defeat as their poor run continued.

Kotoko’s last win in the league surprisingly was against the Gunners when the Porcupine Warriors won 3-0 at the Baba Yara Stadium in March 2009 during their match-day-13 game.

Hearts – Wise

But as the champions lost, poor goalkeeping rather cost league leaders Hearts of Oak victory as the Phobians had to draw 2-2 with Eleven Wise at the Ohene Djan Stadium. That was the second successive drawn game by the leaders.

Faisal – Bechem Chelsea

In Kumasi, King Faisal nearly saw a three-nil lead slip as they managed to upstage Chelsea from second place with a 3-2 win.

Gamba All Blacks – Wa All Stars

Wa All Stars also won their second consecutive game as they were 1-0 winners at the Swedru Park over Gamba All Blacks courtesy an Ali Baba goal.

Heart of Lions – Tema Youth

In Kpando, Heart of Lions collected all three points after beating high flying Tema Youth 2-0. Abraham Annan and Edmund Owusu-Ansah got the goals for the Kpando side.

Hasaacas – Liberty

Hasaacas failed to claim all the spoils as they had to draw 1-1 with Liberty Professionals at the Sekondi Sports Stadium. Goals came from Ohene Yeboah for Hasaacas and Kassinu Ghandhi for Liberty.

Kessben – RTU

Another draw was on the score cards, this time at the Anane Boateng Stadium where Real Tamale United and Kessben drew 1-1. Anas Ganiyu scored first for Kessben before a controversial spot kick was neatly scored by Moro Ibrahim.

AshGold – Mirren

The relegation blues continued as AshantiGold pushed Sporting Mirren to bottom of the table again after the Miners won 1-0 at the Len Clay Stadium thanks to a late penalty scored by Daniel Asamoah.

From the beginning of the tournament, Ghana failed to convince many, especially in terms of goal scoring prowess. The team’s best assets were their midfield, which is mainly powered by Michael Essien, and their defense, which is captained by the redoubtable John Mensah. Unfortunately, due to Mensah’s red card against Nigera, Ghana were dealt a double blow. It wasn’t just the absence of Mensah in the back line – it was Essien’s absence from midfield (he was put in central defense).

I don’t know if I can quite agree with Claude LeRoy’s decision to use Essien as a defender. Essien is just okay as a CB whereas he’s magical in midfield. LeRoy wanted to line up a Mensah-less defense that was as intimidating as possible. Still, I would rather that LeRoy have put in someone else in order to let Essien influence the game in the way he knows best.

What’s done is done, and we can only now work from the benefit of hindsight. I’m just hoping that LeRoy gets a clue sometime soon because the Ghana FA has decided to keep him despite the loss to Cameroon (the 4-2 victory over the Ivory Coast for third place helped).

Ghana have much to look forward too. They have qualifying for World Cup 2010 as well as the qualifying for the African Cup of Nations 2010.

But it will be a very long time when Ghana once again have the chance to win the trophy on home soil.

Finally a Game to Smile About!

Goals: Ghana (Essien 26, Muntari 44). Video and pictures at the end of the post.

Lying in wait is either the Ivory Coast or Mali (or maybe Nigeria), but it depends on the outcome of their last group games, which take place tomorrow. As group winners, Ghana will face the runners-up of Group B. Still, Ghana shouldn’t get carried away. While they did have a good game today, they can (and should) do better. The victory was a morale booster, but the Black Stars have to raise the level of their play even higher if they want to make it to the finals.

Let’s talk about the game itself. Since Laryea Kingston was out, LeRoy opted to give midfielder Anthony Annon his African Cup of Nations debut instead of giving Andre Ayew Kingston’s usual place. This allowed Sulley Muntari to move back onto the wings, where he’s most effective. Quincy changed sides (he can play on the left and the right), and as LeRoy promised, he stayed true to his strike pair of Junior Agogo and Asamoah Gyan.

Here is starting lineup that Claude LeRoy chose to go with:

Kingson
Paintsil – Mensah – Addo – Sarpei
Owusu-Abeyie – Essien – Annan – Muntari
Agogo – Gyan

The match started out in Morocco’s favor, with the Atlas Lions putting a nervous looking Ghanaian defense under pressure. But after two early chances which were saved by Richard Kingson, Ghana began to gain their bearings, and nearly half an hour into the game, they went ahead. Muntari, known for his free kick abilities, fooled the Moroccan defense into thinking he was going for goal, but he chipped his free kick just ahead of Michael Essien, who put it into the back of the net. Essien returned the favor twenty minutes later when he set up Muntari, who added Ghana’s second right before half time.

Ghana started the second half slowly, but Morocco failed to capitalize. Ghana could have had two more goals, but Gyan passed when he should have taken the shot while Agogo hit the crossbar. The last ten minutes were particularly hectic, with both Gyan, Agogo, Owusu-Abeyie, Essien, and Muntari all coming close.

Essien was once again the MVP of the match, though I have to say that I’m most happy for Gyan, who’s had a pretty rough week, what with getting booed off the pitch last week and receiving death threats. But today he played very well and was applauded off the pitch. Let’s hope he scores at least one goal before the tournament is over.

As for Morocco, besides the first ten minutes, they spent most of the game on the back foot, and towards the end of the game, their sole goal seemed to be preventing Ghana from scoring another as opposed to getting a goal for themselves. I was expecting Morocco to put up more of a fight, but they made too many unforced errors and played without any direction, and having managed only one shot on target in the second half, the Morocco that showed up in Accra today was far below the level that they are capable of. What a disappointing end to their tournament, which began to brightly with that 5-1 thrashing of Namibia.

John Paintsil’s own goal was controversially denied to Morocco.

I also can’t end this match review without touching on Hicham Aboucherouane’s disallowed goal. Three minutes after Ghana’s first goal, Morocco had almost evened the score when John Paintsil mistakenly headed Aboucherouane’s free-kick into his own net, but the referee ruled that the goal was offside. Unfortunately, I was away from my computer when this happened, so I missed this as well as the replays. I did see the goal later on highlights, but I can see why so many people are unhappy with the referee’s decision. Apparently, the linesman’s flag didn’t go up until after the ball went into the net, and the Moroccan player that was offside was at the far end and would have had no impact on the play. But like I said, I’m basing this on various post-match reports. Should Morocco’s goal have counted?

If so, would it have changed the outcome of the game? Part of me says no because Ghana had dominated nearly the entire match. And unlike their last two games, Ghana were determined to raise their game. I’m also of the opinion that a team that depends on another’s errors doesn’t deserve to progress. Mistakes happen in all games, and Morocco certainly isn’t the first team to be denied a rightful goal (my very own Lyon had a game-winning goal wrongfully disallowed over the weekend). A good team rises above incidents like that. What Morocco should have done was take the game back into their own hands and fought back, as opposed to being so demoralized by it.

But then again, it was shady refereeing at best and certainly not the quality expected at such a high level tournament.

Thoughts?

Match Highlights:

If you missed the game, catch up on the WCB’s Liveblog of this match.

Photos:

These are the only Ghanaians smiling tonight.

Goals: Ghana (Agogo 41). Video and pictures at the end of the post.

Thanks to the win over Namibia this morning and to Morocco losing to Guinea, Ghana is the only undefeated team in the group. However, Ghana still haven’t qualified for the quarterfinals yet. Since both Guinea and Morocco are only adrift of Ghana by three points, if Ghana lose their next match against Morocco and Guinea sees off Namibia, it’s possible that Ghana doesn’t make it into the next round because of goal difference.

But first, let’s talk about the game. There were some concerns of a defensive meltdown (gee that sounds familiar…), with John Mensah, John Paintsil, and Shilla Illiasu doubtful for the match. But thankfully, they all passed late fitness tests and were cleared to play.

This is the starting lineup that Claude LeRoy elected to go with:

Richard Kingson
John Paintsil – Mensah – Addo – Sarpei
Kingston – Essien – Muntari – Owusu-Abeyie
A. Gyan – Junior Agogo

Subs: Baffour Gyan (for A. Gyan), Andre Ayew for Kingston

After Morocco hammered Namibia 5-1, it was tempting to think that this would be an easy three points for the Black Stars. However, Namibia showed up to play today (as opposed to last Sunday). While Ghana did dominate the possession, they weren’t able to do much with it and squandered several good opportunities (I’m looking at you, Asamoah Gyan).

Ghana were immensely relieved when Junior Agogo broke the deadlock a few minutes from halftime. Laryea Kingston did most of the hard work, breaking through the right side and sending over the perfect pass over to Agogo, who did…something…with his back heel to score.

Michael Essien was voted as Man of the Match.

You would think that having scored the first goal, Ghana would be putting away their chances in the second half. But that was sadly not the case. Namibia tried to press their advantage and looked threatening during brief spells of the second half, but the game was never really out of Ghana’s hands (though you could argue that Namibia deserved to walk away with a point due to their dedicated defending). The only noteworthy event in the second half (besides Gyan’s misses) was Kingston picking up a totally unnecessary yellow card, which means he’ll be suspended for the all important game against Morocco next Monday. Stupid!

I have to say that I’m not very impressed with Ghana at the moment, despite the fact that they’re leading their group. I’m worried that their inability to put away their chances will come back to haunt them. Just take a look at our two main rivals in this group – both Guinea and Morocco have scored more goals than Ghana did.

We saw this during last Sunday’s game against Guinea and again today. Ghana are great at dominating midfield play and breaking up the opposing team’s possession, but they lose composure in the final third. Right now, Ghana are getting by, but the further they advance in this competition, the fewer opportunities at goal they will have.

LeRoy has been doing a lot of this.

It’s something that LeRoy will have to work on because Ghana’s next opponent – their toughest so far – is free scoring Morocco, who have the ability to tear holes in any defense at the tournament. And Ghana, who have yet to convince anyone about their ability to take home the trophy – host nation or not – better pray that they start playing like the favorites they are labeled to be.

Agogo’s goal:

Photos: