The 2024/25 Ghana Premier League season will conclude in three weeks yet, there is still not clear favorite for what will go down as the most competitive in the history of the competition.
The level of competition may be debatable, but never before has there been four different clubs; Bibiani Gold Stars (56 points), Nations F.C. (with a game in hand) and Kpando Heart of Lions (54 points each), and Asante Kotoko (54 points), all with a realistic chance of winning the league.
Asante Kotoko
After firing Dr. Prosper Ogum, Kotoko, who last won the league two years ago, has won two out of three league matches (4-1 against Dreams F.C. and 1-0 over Aduana Stars) to keep up with Gold Stars. The only blemish in an otherwise unsullied record was the stalemate against rivals Accrea Hearts of Oak in Karim Zito’s second game.
Abdul Karim Zito could become only the second coach to have won the league both as a player and coach for Asante Kotoko
Regardless of the marginal gains, the true measure of Kotoko’s temperament and by extension, their championship credentials will be tested in the next three matches.
The litmus test, to that extent, will be on Sunday when they face Gold Stars in Bibiani.
But it is also a fixture Kotoko has typically enjoyed playing. In seven previous meetings, Kotoko has won four times and lost just once. In fact. Kotoko’s only defeat to Gold Stars came after four unbeaten matches in the fixture.
Since Eric Bosomtwi and Prince Adu Kwabena scored for Gold Stars in the 2-1 win in September 2023, the Miners have lost both games against Kotoko without scoring a goal.
What’s more, Kotoko has scored 12 goals in the fixture, while letting in just four (two of those were recorded in one game.)
A betting man will bet on either or both of Kwame Poku and Albert Amoah to score on Sunday.
Where Gold Stars can feel confident, is their monstrous home record. Before last week’s home loss to Karela United, the Miners had not lost at home in a year and five months (517.4 days).
It is a ground they simply do not lose.
Kotoko’s current position and points tally mean any slip-up effectively ends their title aspirations.
Kotoko won the reverse fixture 2-0 at the Baba Yara Stadium in December last year
What comes after Gold Stars, are familiar foes, Medeama S.C.
Traditionally a complex fixture, this is perhaps the first time in many years where Medeama are not in a title race and at the same time, suffered an early elimination in the MTN FA Cup.
To that extent, it is not a team to be feared.
Beyond Kevin Nkrumah, there is very little worth fearing about the former league champions.
The problem for Kotoko, however, is Medeama’s legendary cussedness against Kotoko.
In 20 league meetings, Medeama has won 6, and lost 7, while 7 have ended in stalemates.
In the last five matches at the Baba Yara Stadium, Medeama have won more games (three) than they have lost (two) to Asante Kotoko.
To put it bluntly, Medeama is a problem for Kotoko.
On average, Kotoko drops points once every four matches at home.
For the next two weeks, however, none of those slip-ups can be countenanced.
If Kotoko can emerge from the two games with six points, then it’s all systems go against Vision F.C. on the final day of the season.
Gold Stars
First things first.
Alex Asso (in yellow and gold) has been a reliable contributor to the Gold Stars story this season
By every known metric, Bibiani Gold Stars have exceeded expectations and deserve commendation.
Since their promotion to the Ghana Premier League four years ago, the narrative around the club has been about how well-oiled, the business is.
Many have, often in a rather reductive, almost dismissive tone, pointed to Dun’s Park and the investment that made it possible, as the only reason for the club’s stability.
However, a glance at the team sheet on match days quickly dispels any suggestions of a sugar-daddy club.
Led by the magnificent Frimpong Manso, who won four league titles with Kotoko between 1986 and 1995, as a center-back, Gold Stars have built their team on a mix of smart and experienced acquisitions.
Before July 2024, Ronald Frimpong had the reputation of an often busy but seldom productive winger.
When Real Tamale United (RTU) got relegated, Frimpong was held up as a symbol of the club’s dysfunctional recruitment setup.
Six months before Frimpong’s arrival, Samuel Atta Kumi was deemed as surplus to requirement by relegation-threatened Karela United.
As we speak, he has scored nine goals for Gold Stars and is the club’s top scorer.In 2023, Amon Kotei was the highest rated right back in the country. After two disciplinary issues, his Tamale City and later, Susubiribi contracts were terminated.
When Gold Stars signed him, he did not make the squad for five of their first 10 league games and was on the substitute bench for four of the other five matches.
Yet, since making his debut, Kotei has started 15 consecutive league matches.
There is Vincent Atinga too.
After winning the league with Medeama S.C. Vincent Atinga was also deemed to have been past his sell-by-date.
Two years on, Atinga, and Charles Kamar Gyamfi, who has been with the club since their days in Zone Two of the Division One League, are leading the Miner’s gold chase.
That is what Frimpong Manso has done; rehabilitating careers that were on life support or declared dead, adding players who no one cared about, to forge the most consistent team in the league.
If they can keep it together for 270 minutes more (plus added time), Gold Stars, they will become the 14th different team to have won the league.
To do that, they need to beat Asante Kotoko, Berekum Chelsea, and Accra Lions.
Chelsea’s hopes of ending the season have dissipated. Kotoko saw to that when they won the FA Cup semi-final by a goal to nil.
That defeat, and Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Accra Hearts of Oak, means Samuel Boadu’s men have also lost their last three matches in all competitions. The other was a 3-2 loss to Aduana Stars.
Familiar faces: Alex Aso (left) and Vincent Atinga (middle) train under instructions from Godwin Ablordey
So Chelsea is not exactly in form.
Chelsea’s record in the fixture is what may worry Gold Stars.
Each side has won three of the seven meetings in the league.
So there is very little to choose between the two sides.
However, Gold Stars have won the last two meetings, scoring five goals and conceding just once in the process.
What’s more, Samuel Boadu is a coach Gold Stars enjoys playing against.
Boadu was in charge when Gold Stars recorded their last two victories against Chelsea. He was also in charge of Hearts of Oak when the Miners held them to a 1-1 draw two years ago.
Boadu’s only win against The Miners was a 2-1 win in 2022.
Perhaps the most difficult of the three remaining matches is against Accra Lions.
Lions appear down and out in the relegation scrap and 16th on the log with 35 points. That means they need to win every game and hope that Young Apostles, Karela United and Basake Holy Stars all drop points in two of their last three matches.
Matches between Lions and Gold Stars are typically very close.
In seven meetings, each side has won twice while the remaining have ended in draws.
In the first round, Gold Stars recorded the most impressive away performance when they trounced Lions 3-0 in Accra.
Atta Kumi scored a hat trick on that day.
If Gold Stars are to win the league, they will need Atta Kumi to be as impeccable as he was on that day.
Not just him, but the entire team.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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