Kumasi Asante Kotoko’s resolve to exorcise their Algerian ‘demons’ on the continental front persisted yesterday after Algerian opponents ES Setif recovered from a goal down to win the first leg CAF Confederation Cup affair 2-1 at the Accra Stadium.
Ahmed Kendouci provided the sucker-punch to Kotoko’s promising second-half start in the 80th minute when he completed an exhilarating counter-attack from the visitors. This was after substitute Amoura Mohammed’s header in the 73rd minute leveled Kwame Opoku’s lead for Kotoko four minutes earlier.
Naby Keita’s botched penalty in the 84th minute set-up an almost insurmountable task for the ‘Porcupine Warriors’ as they head to Algeria for the return leg.
The Algerian transitional play from defense to attack, creative ability and superior quality confirmed them as a superior opposition.
In the early exchanges, both sides struggled to stamp their authority on the game and even though Kotoko dominated possession and probed for an early goal through their Brazilian playmaker Fabio Gama, the trickery of Houssam Ghacha on Setif’s right wing kept the Kotoko defense busy.
On one occasion in the 26th minute, Ghacha floated a cross to Setif’s burly forward Malick Toure whose poor connection left Kotoko off the hook.
The organization and compact play of the Algerians made it difficult for Fabio Gama and Emmanuel Sarkodie to thread dangerous passes to front men Kwame Opoku and Naby Keita.
After recess, Kotoko injected more urgency into the play and finally unlocked the Setif defence when a perfect inter-positional play between Gama and Emmanuel Gyamfi freed Opoku who neatly slotted past Sofiane Khedira for the opener.
But substitute Amoura who replaced Toure in the 60th minute was Setif’s trump card as he instigated both goals for his side.
First he got to the end of Ghacha’s perfectly laid cross at the edge of the Kotoko box before combining again with Ghacha to set up Kendouci for the winner.
