Mustapha Essuman On The Cusp Of Leading Hearts To Break Kotoko’s Accra Voodoo

The most titanic rivalry in the history of Ghana club football will be reignited today Monday, May 2, 2016 as Hearts of Oak host Asante Kotoko at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The Porcupine Warriors (Asante Kotoko) have had an easy go at the Phobians in recent past anytime they visited the Capital but the dynamism may come to a halt with Mustapha Essuman in the middle of affairs for Hearts of Oak.

Coach Michael Osei has got only one option to shut Hearts from scoring. That is, to freeze the movement of former Liberty Professionals midfield architect (M. Essuman) who has become the fulcrum around which Kenichi Yatsuhashi’s Sushi style of play revolves.

Kojo Poku may be deployed to chase Mustapha Essuman at every space, but my fear here is that Essuman is more intelligent than the Kotoko middie both on and off the ball.

Apart from that, Mustapha Essuman is a good passer of the ball. He can pass the ball with both feet not excluding his ability to giving passes with his head, which is very rare in our local league. The best way for Kotoko to deal with Mustapha Essuman is to pluck the supplies to the midfield agent (CID) because he’s the litmus that speeds up Hearts’ ability to score.

On the other hand, Kotoko attacking midfielder Obed Owusu is worthy enough to turn the screws on Hearts of Oak. In fact, no one can claim to love our local football and hate the Porcupine Warriors midfield surveyor.

Asante Kotoko’s ability to steal the show on Monday is largely going to depend on Obed Owusu’s ability to open up the Hearts defence led by Reuben Gnange for Dauda Mohammed to penetrate.

Obed Owusu is not just a supplier on the pitch. He also has the ability to score goals from a distance which means that Hearts of Oak’s midfield scrapper (Sabahn Laryea) must dare not give him enough room to operate.

Hearts last five matches:
Inter Allies 2-3 Hearts of Oak
Hearts of Oak 1-3 All Stars
Techiman City 0-0 Hearts of Oak
Hearts of Oak 1-1 WAFA
AshantiGold 1-2 Hearts of Oak
Asante Kotoko’s last five matches:
Asante Kotoko 1-0 Hasaacas
Aduana Stars 1-0 Asante Kotoko
Asante Kotoko 3-1 Liberty Professionals
Dreams FC 0-1 Asante Kotoko
Asante Kotoko 0-1 New Edubiase United
General statistics of the two sides are as follows;