Ashgold 1 Bejaia 0

The Miners recorded a slim win over the Crabs in the
first leg tie of the Caf Champions League despite
having a numerical advantage
Ghana champions Ashantigold defeated 10-man M.O Bejaia
1-0 in the first leg of Caf Champions League’s preliminary
stages at the Len Clay Stadium on Sunday thanks to Tijani
Joshua’s solo effort.
Making a return to continental football after a seven-year
hiatus, the Miners went underway with a frenetic pace to
prevent their host from taking an early lead.
However, after sustaining pressure for the opening ten minutes,
Bejaia came into the game strongly and started creating
decent chances.
Ndoye Waliou’s on-target strike was denied by an offside flag
after heading home a Boukria’s rebound by the13th minute.
The visitors had another good chance when Ashantigold
midfielder Nuhu Alhassan handled the ball near the box but
Boukria’s free-kick crashed against the woodwork.
Amos Addai was set up deep in Bejaia’s half after 21 minutes
but his finish was parried by goalkeeper Taliz.
Paul Abaka Nkrumah delivered a threatening cross from the
right flank few minutes later and Nuhu Fuseinu got up to the
back post to connect it but it narrowly missed the target.
Ashantigold goalkeeper Robert Dabou, who was handed the
starting role ahead of Fatau Dauda, was called to duty as he
stretched to his elastic limit to parry a long drive from Sidibe
Soumaila.
Isaac Amoah was brought down on the edge of the box by Amir
Aguid on 39th minute but miscommunication gave Bejaia an
opportunity for a quick counter attack, with Nuhu Alhassan
halting the pace on the halfway line to receive the first booking
of the game after which Bejaia’s Lakadari also went into the
books for a rough challenge on Amoah.
The end-to-end action continued but despite Ashantigold
having a superior ball possession, they couldn’t let it count.
After the break, Nkrumah came agonisingly close to breaking
the deadlock when he beat the offside trap to take the ball
beyond goalkeeper Taliz after 57th minute, but the youngster’s
last ditch effort from a tight angle hit the side net.
Then came the breakthrough on the hour mark, as Tijani Joshua
latched onto a through pass from Alhassan Nuhu and perfectly
slotted it past onrushing Taliz, who was subsequently replaced
after picking an injury.
Issues compounded for Bejaia as Lakadari was shown the exit
after picking his second yellow card of the day.
Fuseinu had two glaring opportunities during stoppage time but
they were all wasted.
Bejaia will host Ashantigold in the return encounter on
December 28 at the Stade de l’Unite Maghrebine. The winner on
aggregate will meet the winner between As Tanda and Club
Africain in the second stage of the competition.
Credit : Evans Gyamera-Antwi (Ashes)