Kumasi Asante Kotoko returned to the summit of the league table of the Ghana Premier League after defeating Legon Cities 2:0 at the Baba Yara Stadium in their match week 20 encounter.
Two goals from Patrick Asiedu and Kwame Poku in both halves condemned the Royals to their second consecutive defeat after succumbing to a 0:1 loss to Medeama on the road on match week 19.
The results confined Legon Cities to 17th position on the table with just one point above bottom club, Accra Lions.
Asante Kotoko dominated the early exchanges as expected, forcing the visitors to defend their lines to prevent an early goal.
The porcupines won two free kicks just outside the box of their opponents within the first ten minutes but did not utilise the opportunities to their advantage.
They continued to dictate the pace of the game as they probed for the opener, spending a lot of time in the vital area of Legon Cities with very little to show for after 20 minutes.
It was not until the 29th minute before they could find the back of the net following a thunderous strike from Patrick Asiedu.
They left back delivered a long drive from 30 yards beyond goalkeeper Kwame Aziz following a beautiful build-up from midfield involving about five players.
The goal brought some sense of urgency in the play of the visitors who fought back to pull parity, but they went into the break a goal behind the Porcupines.
The second half started just as the first with Kotoko in the driving seat, distributing passes across the field in search of a second goal to put the match to bed.
Legon Cities would however occasionally threaten their hosts through counter attacks as Kotoko surge forwards in droves for more goals.
With only a goal separating the two sides, the visitors threw caution to the wind as they stepped up in an ambitious effort to find the equaliser.
Their increasing confidence was however deflated on the brink of full time when Kwame Poku scored Kotoko’s second from the spot after a Legon Cities defender handled the ball in the box.
Having secured a comfortable lead after 90 minutes, Asante Kotoko managed the game throughout the five added minutes to return to the top of the league table, which was occupied by their arch-rivals, Accra Hearts of Oak ahead of the encounter.
GNA
