Kotoko rally against Hearts of Oak to lift ninth President's Cup trophy
- Adamu Muftawu
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Asante Kotoko came back from a goal down to beat Hearts of Oak by 2-1 to clinch the 2025 President's Cup at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
The fixture is an annual exercise that is played to honour the sitting president of Ghana with the current head of state, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, present at the game.
It was Hearts of Oak who had a number of scoring opportunities in the first half but Hamza Issah and Mawuli Wayo were not clinical enough in front of goal. However, Kotoko came close to scoring when Kwame Opoku capitalized on Konadu Yiadom’s mistake but his strike went wide on the 14th minute.
Hamza Issah fired Hearts of Oak’s opener when he latched on to Mohamed Camara’s howler on the 24th minute.
Hearts of Oak were dealt a blow early in the game when Mawuli Wayo walked off the pitch with an injury. His place was taken by Martin Karikari on the 30th minute.
Kotoko came into the second half looking good when Emmanuel Antwi struck the upright with a sumptuous free kick. They soon found the equalizer when Konadu Yiadom headed the ball into his own net from Peter Amidu Acquah’s cross.
Within minutes, the Porcupine Warriors shot themselves ahead courtesy Kwame Opoku to put the game at 2-1 in the 53rd minute.
Hearts of Oak appeared to find the equalizer on the 75th minute but Hamza Issah’s tap in from Martin Karikari was adjudged to be offside to keep the game at 2-1 for Kotoko.
Hearts of Oak were awarded a penalty kick on the 82nd minute when Mohammed Hussein’s strike was handled in the penalty area. Emmanuel Amankwah stepped to take and he missed the penalty to pull level for the Phobians with the game kept at 2-1 for Asante Kotoko on the 83rd minute.
With four minutes of added time elapsed, Ghana FA Cup winners Asante Kotoko lifted their ninth President Cup with their attention now turned to the Champion of Champions clash against Ghana Premier League champions Gold Stars on August 31.
