Legon Cities pulled a 2-0 stunning victory over high-flying Accra Great Olympics at the Accra Sports Stadium in a match day 19 fixture to boost their survival hopes in the Ghana Premier League (GPL).
Against the run of play in the second half, super substitute, Nicholas Mensah punished Oly with a thumping header from a corner kick on the hour mark to put his side ahead with a goal that attracted sharp protest from the Olympics players.
Unsure of a decision, the referee, Serlorm Kpormegbe, hesitated until his assistant waved his flag to indicate an Eric Osei Bonsu clearance was behind the goal line.
It sent the home team into wild jubilation but forced a lethargic Olympics side to up their game – and when they did, they looked fearsome.
But they were pegged back by a second goal from experienced Jonah Attuquaye who latched onto a long ball from the Legon Cities area, controlled beautifully and beat Ebenezer Sekyere at the heart of the Oly defence before slotting past Benjamin Asare in goal for the Wonder Club.
With their backs against the wall, they threw everything into the game with Samuel Ashie Quaye becoming the tormentor-in-chief with his sleek ball control and dangerous surging runs. He was unlucky his penalty shout when he was impeded was ignored by the referee whose performance on the day left much to be desired.
From a very cautious start, the two sides kept the ball on the pitch with attempts to break each other through the middle which appeared choked.
Oly was the busiest of the two with dominance but it was Legon Cities that created the first two goalscoring chances that required good saves from Asare to prevent an early upset.
Legon Cities’ tactic to sit deep when Oly attacked made it difficult for the Wonder Club to create the openings as Gladson Awako, James Akaminko and Kassim Razak pinned the hosts to their half of the field.
Oly managed to create three decent chances which all fell to a blunt attack spearheaded by Maxwell Abbey Quaye and Mudasiru Abdul Manaf.
Cities’ assumed control with Victorien Adje Adebayor Zakari and Hans Kwofie trying to strike a decent partnership upfront but their efforts were dealt with by the Oly central defensive pair of Sekyere and Hamza Zakari with a strike from Awako in the 31st minute being the only action of note at the latter stages of the half.
The dethroned league leaders resumed the second half the better side, putting passes together in a bid to find a way past a packed Legon Cities defence.
Three minutes after Abbey Quaye missed another good opportunity to put his side ahead, Legon Cities attacked Olympics and earned a corner kick which was well taken with Nicholas Mensah getting to the end of it for the opener.
Jonah Attuquaye doubled it with a solo effort 10 minutes later, leaving Oly with a huge task to claw back.
Coach Annor Walker finally effected the substitution clamoured for by the few fans at the stadium; bringing on Thomas Darlington and Yakubu Mohammed for Abbey Quaye and Mudasiru but that did not alter the result as Oly dropped to second position on the league table.
