Accra Great Olympics recorded a 1-0 victory over struggling King Faisal in their third week Ghana Premier League (GPL) match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday.
It was a game Olympics could have registered a cricket score despite the Faisal composure at the back.
Notwithstanding their control and the 'delicious' chances that fell to Yusif Abdul-Razak, Olympics needed the predatory instinct of substitute Emmanuel Mensah to register the only goal of the game; just six minutes after his introduction.
Mensah's low left-footed strike, indeed, fetched all three points for the Wonder Club but for Abdul -Razak, he will rue a decent opportunity to stake a resilient claim for the season's Golden Boot Award.
The Black Satellites striker missed as many as five golden opportunities including three 'one-on-one' situations which he shot feebly into the hands of an experienced King Faisal goalkeeper, Ibrahim Iddrisu.
The host controlled the game brilliantly from the onset but ironically, it was Faisal that went closer to scoring in the fourth minute as the referee, Joshua Samadji, ignored a foul appeal by Ebenezer Sekyere in the heart of the Oly defence; gifting Faisal's Dauda Yahaya Sadam a good space to attack but his shot missed narrowly.
Abdul-Razak's nightmare started in the 16th minute when he beat a challenge from his marker and faced the keeper Iddrisu but shot frailly into his hands.
Four minutes later, he hit another one against the goalkeeper with Oly forward, Francis Dadzie shooting the rebound into the skies.
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Iddrisu pulled the save of the day in the 36th minute when he dived to tip Emmanuel Akesse's swift header to a corner kick over the bar.
With Emmanuel Akesse and Samuel Ashie-Quaye failing to deliver on the day, Yaw Preko -Oly's coach, brought on the scorer, Mensah and two others - Gideon OfeiOfori and Emmanuel Antwi.
That change made Oly more dangerous in the Faisal area of the field with Man-of-Match, Emmanuel Agyeman Badu assigned a new role that allowed the younger midfielders and defenders to scamper down the wings.
One of the raids saw Mensah pick a ball from a melee, raced into the Faisal goal area before unleashing a grounder that beat the goalie to score the only goal of the match.
Faisal emerged from their defensive posture to attempt an equalizer as they aimed to avoid a third consecutive defeat but that exposed them as Oly threatened several times but once again, let down by Abdul-Razak's poor marksmanship, missing clear chances in the 72nd, 74th and 82nd minutes.
Faisal brought on Yahaya Baba, Samuel Adom Antwi and Emmanuel Nketia for Yahaya Sadam, Mohammed Haruna and Abdul Latif but that failed to change their fortunes.
