Asante Kotoko cruised to a hard fought 1-0 victory over defending champions Berekum Chelsea on Wednesday night at the Baba Yara Stadium to pull three points clear.<\/span><\/p>\n Michael Akuffo converted an 80th minute penalty to claim all three points for the Porcupine Warriors as Hans Van der Plyum’s tasted his first defeat as Chelsea coach.<\/span><\/p>\n Ghana international goalkeeper Ernest Sowah reclaimed the first choice spot for Chelsea with skipper Abdul Basit and the nimble-footed Solomon Asante named in midfield.<\/span><\/p>\n Prince Anokye returned to his former employers and impressed in the first half.<\/span><\/p>\n Kotoko coach Maxwell Konadu named Ahmed Toure in attack with Michael Annaba and David Offei providing support.<\/span><\/p>\n Both sides were poised to scrap all three points but it was Berekum Chelsea, the visitors, who played with unified purpose in the opening minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n Emmanuel Clottey skipped past three Kotoko defenders before firing a stinging but missed the target by just inches away.<\/span><\/p>\n Striker Toure responded for Kotoko racing into space and shot wide.<\/span><\/p>\n The Ivorian fired a glorious shot which sailed over Ernest Sowah’s crossbar.<\/span><\/p>\n Plyum’s side took charge of the midfield but were unable to make use of the any of the opportunities that came their way.<\/span><\/p>\n Kotoko returned from the recess with a new sense of urgency as Michael Akuffo hummed to life in midfield.<\/span><\/p>\n Chelsea’s Solomon Asante had very little impact to make as he was replaced.<\/span><\/p>\n Kotoko’s moment of glory arrived when Ernest Sowah fouled Nathaniel Asamoah inside the box.<\/span><\/p>\n The former Wa All Stars striker appeared in a position to score when the Black Stars hopeful blocked him.<\/span><\/p>\n Referee Joseph Lamptey pointed to spot with Chelsea having little complains to make.<\/span><\/p>\n Akuffo elected himself to dart home the winner with an expertly taken low grounder to the right side and Sowah diving to the left.<\/span><\/p>\n Substitute Musa Mohammed tried to pull a chestnut out of the blazing fire with speculative shot on the 85th minute.<\/span><\/p>\n Kotoko are now three points richer than arch-rivals Hearts of Oak who are in second place with 21 points.<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Asante Kotoko cruised to a hard fought 1-0 victory over defending champions Berekum Chelsea on Wednesday night at the Baba Yara Stadium to pull three points clear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n