Accra Hearts of Oak were held to a 1-1 draw against city rivals Accra Great Olympics in match day 28 of the Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Phobians lost the reverse fixture 2-0 and were looking to restore their 2 points lead after Kotoko beat Ashanti Gold 1-0 earlier on to go top of the table.
The match was billed to be the most anticipated derby match in the league and it lived up to the hype as fans across the country almost filled the stadium to full capacity with Chelsea’s Champions League winner Hudson Odoi among the attendees.
Hearts have won their previous five matches in the league prior to this game and their confidence showed in the early embers of the game but failed to capitalize on the chances that came their way.
Olympics finally settled into the game and began to ask questions of the Hearts defense but hardly threatened goalkeeper Richard Attah- their best chance though coming from a freekick from Awako which went straight into the safety hands of Attah.
It is Hearts that will continue to threaten the home side and should have been awarded a goal after Isaac Mensah’s effort came off the bar and dropped at the back of the line but the linesman failed to spot that and allowed play to continue.
It finished 0-0 at the break as neither sides could find the back of the net.
Hearts began the second half like they started the first and break the deadlock six minutes into the game.
Emmanuel Tettey, perhaps frustrated by the lack of cutting edge drove the ball past the crowded penalty area after goalkeeper Benjamin Asare failed to deal with Salifu Ibrahim’s corner kick.
The away side continued to surge forward for the crucial second goal but it kept eluding them and Olympics gradually grew into the game.
The Dade boys got their equalizer after the brilliant Raddy Ovouka was guilty of trying to overplay the ball and gifted posession to the Olympics attacker who fed it to Maxwell Abbey for a simple headed goal.
Hearts pressed forward for all 3 points and were nearly caught on the break but mudasiru’s effort went well wide with the goal at his mercy.
It turned out to be the last action of the game as it ended 1-1 and took Hearts above Kotoko on goal difference to leave the title race wide open.
