Real Tamale United 1-0 Hearts of Oak: Owusu Afriyie stoppage time stunner sink high-hopes Phobia in Ghana Premier League opener
Real Tamale United beat Hearts of Oak 1-0 in the opener of 2023-2024 Ghana Premier League season at Tamale Stadium on Friday night.
After a close contest throughout the game, Owusu Afriyie struck in stoppage time to hand Real Tamale United win in the season’s first game.
RTU welcomed Hearts of Oak to the North as the Ghana Premier League kicked start on Friday (15th September, 2023). New winds were blowing in the camp of the Accra based side after appointing Martin Koopman as their new head coach. The Dutch International has assembled a good team giving them confidence heading into clash with RTU in Friday night football.
Martin Koopman led Hearts of Oak to 2-0 win over Nations FC in final pre-season game at Pobiman with the Phobian’s display in the clash coming along with a prediction of a win at RTU.
There was also spotlight on Kashala Wanet who has been instrumental in Hearts’ friendly games netting a hat-trick in Hearts’ 4-1 thrashing of lower-tier side Lazio in pre-season.
The forward was giving the nod up front which RTU probe diligently to curtail dangers of the Congolese International.
RTU dominated Hearts in the first half, created decent chances to take the lead but missed glamouring moments. The home side could have led 2-0 in the first 45’ minutes but were not sharp enough.
Hearts took control of the game in the second half especially following the introduction of Salifu Ibrahim with the playmaker creating the openings in final third but there were no perfect connections.
RTU and Hearts were settling for a goalless draw game which that could have still been a fair results in a strong patronage GPL opener, one of the most attended games in the history of the league in over decades now.
RTU broke the heart of Hearts of Oak when Owusu Afriyie rose to the occasion, above his opponents, to score in 90+2 to sink high hopes Hearts in Tamale.
