On this day 29 April 2007 (Exactly 12 years ago) Hearts of Oak were confirmed Ghana league champions after beating Berekum Arsenal 1-0 in the last round of matches of the 2006/2007 season.
The Accra side finished top with 58 points, four more than second-placed AshantiGold.
Hearts sealed their 19th league title only after the Ghana Football Association resolved a catalogue of disciplinary decisions and results of matches by AshantiGold.
Asante Kotoko took third place with 51 points while Hearts of Lions finished fourth on 47 points.
Feyenoord, Tano Bofoakwa and Power FC were relegated to the first division.
On this day 29 April 2007 (Exactly 12 years ago) Kumasi Asante Kotoko defeated Accra Great Olympics 5-3 in their last match of the Onetouch Premier League match played at the Nkawkaw Park.
All the three goals of Olympics were scored by inside left Emmanuel Clottey to record a hat-trick to propel him to win the Goal King Race.
Kotoko took the kick-off and their attackers led by veteran skipper, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour supported by Douglas Nkrumah and Ofosu Amoah (Tico-Tico), pressurized the Olympics defence in search of an early goal but their efforts were ably foiled.
They however got the opener in the 21st minute through inside left Nkrumah whose cheeky shot beat Oly’s keeper Ibrahim Salifu. Kotoko continued to pile up pressure in search of more goals and got the second goal in the 31st minute again through Nkrumah when he scored from an Osei Kuffour’s rebound shot.
Olympics from then dominated play but wasted a corner-kick in the 37th minute but after Iddrisu Sumaiala came in for inside right Edward Sosu they managed to score in the 40th minute through Emmanuel Clottey in a defensive blunder by the Kotoko defence.
Kotoko made it 3-1 in the injury time of the first half when substitute Francis Akwafu’s right-footed shot in the Oly’s box beat keeper Salifu.
Oly again brought on Alex Agyepong for keeper Salifu in the second half and got their second goal in the 46th minute through Alex Quartey when he beat a host of Kotoko defenders on a solo move before placing the ball at the blind side of the Kotoko keeper.
Both teams resorted to rough play that compelled Accra-based FIFA Referee Mercy Tagoe to show four yellow cards to Kotoko players and three cards to Olympics players to stamp her authority on the game. In the 53rd minute, Kotoko made it 4-2 when Osei Kuffour scored from a John Cudjoe’s pass.
Kotoko continued to dominate play and scored their fifth goal in the 73rd minute when Ofosu Amoah beat three Oly defenders before releasing a powerful shot to beat substitute keeper Agyepong. When everything seemed to be heading to an end, Oly’s main goal scorer, Clottey scored his third goal in the 76th minute through a defensive blunder to end proceedings.
On this day 29 April 2012(Exactly 7 years ago) Asante Kotoko extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches as they clinched their 21st League title.
Despite struggling to draw 0-0 with relegation-threatened Berekum Arsenal at the Baba Yara Stadium, the Porcupine Warriors secured a historic 21st title in the Ghanaian league, dethroning Berekum Chelsea.
Kotoko had opened a 15-point lead ahead of their title chasers, AshantiGold who suffered a 3-1 defeat to Liberty with four games left to play.
On this day 29 April 2015 (Exactly 4 years ago) Defending champions, Asante Kotoko, ended the first round of the First Capital Plus Premier League on a good note, thrashing visiting Kpando Heart of Lions 4-0 in their match-day 15 clash at the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi,
Ivorian import, Ahmed Toure, set the tone for the demolition exercise as he converted a spot kick in the 20th minute to give the homers the lead after Lions’ Prosper Avor brought down Latif Mohammed.
The Porcupine Warriors would double the lead two minutes later and it was Prince Baffoe who scored from a rebound when Lions’ goalie, Mozart Adjetey, punched into play a close-range shot by the striker.
The visitors, sensing danger, recoiled and switched into defensive play with Asiamah Badu and Agyare Benjamin working tirelessly to thwart most efforts at goal by the marauding Kotoko attack.
The two sides came into the second half with varied strategies, but it was Kotoko who demonstrated sheer determination and tactical discipline and as the game wore on, Latif Mohammed made amends for an earlier misses with a classic goal in the 64th minute.
It was a beautiful goal by all standards and the move was initiated at the right flank by Mike Akuffu, who took the Lions’ defence on and on seeing goalie Adjetey off his lines set up Latif to nod home.
Lions’ Sackey Osman and Isaac Quansah missed narrowly two glorious scoring opportunities in the 66th and 67th minutes, respectively, after the Kotoko defence committed some blunders.
The visitors again looked threatening and nearly found the back of the net in the 69th minute, but Kotoko goalie, Isaac Amoako, parried to safety Abdul Karim’s well-taken volley.
The Porcupine Warriors sealed the doom of the visitors in the 70th minute with Emmanuel Asante fetching the fourth goal for his side in a dramatic fashion.
An unmarked Asante chanced upon a loose ball in the opponents’ goal area, rounded up two defenders and shot past advancing goalie Adjetey.
On this day 29 April 2006 (Exactly 13 years ago) Chelsea clinched a second successive Premiership title with a 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho’s side needed only a point to put the seal on another title triumph, and William Gallas set them on their way with a fifth-minute header.
Joe Cole added a brilliant individual goal on the hour and Ricardo Carvalho fired home Chelsea’s third.
But the mood of celebration was dampened as England hope Wayne Rooney was stretchered off late on.
Chelsea boss Mourinho restored Cole and Arjen Robben to the side that lost the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
And with only a point needed to secure the title, Chelsea made the perfect start when they went ahead inside five minutes.
Frank Lampard’s corner was knocked forward by Drogba and Gallas stole in to head past the stranded Edwin Van der Sar.
There was a major scare for Chelsea and England two minutes later when John Terry was felled by a late tackle from international team-mate Rooney.
Terry lay motionless for a lengthy period with what looked like a shin injury, but just as a stretcher was being brought out, he recovered and was able to continue after several minutes’ treatment.
Rooney was United’s main threat, and he almost capped a brilliant solo run with an equaliser after 21 minutes.
He glided past Terry and Paulo Ferreira but pulled his shot wide with only Petr Cech to beat.
And he brought another fine save from the keeper three minutes before half-time, Cech diving low to his right to save Rooney’s instant 20-yard drive.
Chelsea almost got a second when Cole curled a finish inches wide after 54 minutes – but he made no mistake with a stunning individual effort six minutes later.
Cole took out Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Mikael Silvestre with a single turn before racing on to fire high past Van der Sar.
Desperate United boss Sir Alex Ferguson made a change after 64 minutes, sending on Ruud van Nistelrooy for the disappointing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Rooney was then involved in an incident that casts a huge shadow over England’s World Cup plans with 15 minutes left.
He stumbled into an innocuous challenge with Ferreira, but collapsed in again clutching the same right foot he broke against Portugal in Euro 2004.
Rooney looked in agony as he was strapped on to a stretcher, leaving the field to sympathic applause from anxious fans of both sides.
Chelsea’s title party started in earnest at the final whistle, though the worries over Rooney were a worry for those celebrating as well as the United fans forced to accept their Premiership dreams were over for another season.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho
“The result perhaps does not reflect how well Manchester United played.
“They really made it tough for us and were fantastic with their attacking movement.
“But we overcame it to confirm our position as Premiership champions.”
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
“It was harsh and I don’t think 3-0 was a fair reflection of our performance.
“If you lose goals as softly as we did today you have to take your medicine for that.
“We had a lot of the play and made some good chances but we didn’t make it count.
“But Chelsea deserve all the plaudits they will get and, especially on their home form, they are worthy champions.”
Chelsea Line-up : Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Gallas, Makelele, Joe Cole (Crespo 76), Essien, Lampard, Robben (Duff 66), Drogba (Maniche 85).
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Geremi.
Booked: Cech, Makelele, Gallas, Joe Cole.
Goals: Gallas 5, Joe Cole 61, Ricardo Carvalho 73.
Man Utd Line-up : Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Ronaldo (van Nistelrooy 64), O’Shea, Giggs (Richardson 73), Park, Rooney (Evra 82), Saha.
Subs Not Used: Howard, Brown.
Booked: Ronaldo, Rooney.
Att: 42,219
Ref: M Dean (Wirral).
On this day 29 April 2013 (Exactly 6 years ago) Christian Benteke scored a hat-trick in an impressive home win for Aston Villa.
Aston Villa 6 – 1 Sunderland
Ron Vlaar(34) Danny Rose(32)
Andreas Weimann (38)
Christian Benteke (55,59,72)
Gabriel Agbonlahlor (88)
On this day 29 April 2018 (Exactly a year ago) Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal equaled his Open-era record for most wins at the same event (11 Monte Carlo) with his 11th Barcelona ATP title.
BY: GEORGE ‘Alan Green ‘ MAHAMAH
