CAFCC: Asante Kotoko secure first leg advantage over Kwara United

Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko began their CAF Confederation Cup (CAFCC) preliminary round with a hard fought win over Nigerian side Kwara United to take a 4-3 first leg advantage.

The first leg came up at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday, September 21 with the 10-time Ghana FA Cup holders proving to be the side that needed the win at all costs.

The Porcupine Warriors made their intentions known from the blast of the whistle by dictating the pace but efforts from Albert Amoah did not trouble opposition goalkeeper Ayeleso Suraj. However, Emmanuel Antwi fired Kotoko’s opener from the penalty area with 19 minutes played when Kwara United failed to deal with a cross by Albert Amoah from the left side of the field.

Albert Amoah soon found himself in a fine position to increase the tally but his strike was not troubling enough for the opponent’s keeper. Kwara United took advantage of Kotoko’s loss of concentration to draw level from the boot of Johnmark Atule in the 35th minute much to the shock of the home fans.

The record Ghana Premier League holders however did not rest on their oars, piling pressure on the Ilorin based club which resulted in a second lead. Peter Amidu Acquah finished off some good work before Albert Amoah was set up with a perfect cross to smash Kotoko into 2-1 ahead.

The visitors however recovered quickly from the scare to find the equalizer when Atule Johnmark capitalized on Kotoko’s defensive dormancy to cancel Albert Amoah’s lead just on the stroke of half time, ending the break at 2-2.

Asante Kotoko came for the second session with a determined front, pushing for the third goal which eventually came from Joseph Ablorh’s header from a corner kick in the 47th minute mark.

Kotoko took charge of the match with Emmanuel Antwi controlling the midfield with finesse as Albert Amoah caused havoc in the visitors third. The hosts were awarded a penalty kick in the 70th minute when Emmanuel Antwi was brought down in the box with Albert Amoah tricking Suraj to make the score line 4-2.

Kwara United pulled an important goal back from the boot of substitute Abdulraheem Shola who pounced on a poor defending by Paul Acquah and a howler by keeper, Mohamed Camara with a minute to full time. The game ended and Kotoko must protect the 4-3 lead from the first leg ahead of the reverse fixture in Ilorin a week later.

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