Asante Kotoko are top of the Ghana Premier League for the first time this season after ending Karela United’s perfect record with a 2-0 victory at the Crosby Awuah Memorial Park in Aiyinase on Sunday.
The Porcupine Warriors inflicted on Karela their first defeat of the campaign to overtake them at the summit of the table.
After six straight victories, Karela were confident of victory, but Kotoko led by stop-gap coach Johnson Smith, who secured top-flight football for Karela in 2017, had other ideas.
Smith’s strategy worked to perfection with Kotoko winning the encounter thanks to goals from Ibrahim Imoro and striker Kwame Opoku.
Karela started on the front foot and should have taken the lead before the 20th-minute mark. First, defender Yussif Mubarik had to make an important block to prevent a goal-bound strike before Razak Abalora produced a superb save to deny Kwame Boateng.
Kotoko overcame the early pressure and started to attack. It paid off in the 39th minute when Ibrahim Imoro, a former Karela player, scored the opening goal. Imoro fired a low driven shot into the net for his second goal of the season.
Kwame Opoku, who has been Kotoko’s most important player this season, doubled the lead on 61 minutes. The striker got to end off fine pass by Emmanuel Gyamfi and produced clinical low strike into the left bottom corner.
Kotoko protected the two goals to claim a famous win.
The defeat leaves Karela United in third.
