The Phobians poor start to their title defence continued as they were pipped at home by their city rivals on Sunday
Hearts of Oak were defeated 1-0 by city rivals Great Olympics in the Ga Mantse derby in matchday sixteen of Ghana Premier League at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Ahead of the game, the Phobians announced that former AC Milan midfielder Sulley Ali Muntari will be available to make his bow and he was handed jersey number 10 which was previously worn by Emmanuel Nettey.
The Phobians had a shaky start as Olympics began to cause problems to their backline with Abbey Quaye leading it for the series of threats for the visitors.
Hearts were handed a golden opportunity to go in front by the 20th minute as Kwame Obeng Junior met a James Serwornu’s cross but the striker couldn’t direct his header on target.
Olympics found an opening by the 30th minute as Razak Yussif connected a long pass, raced through Hearts’ midfield and perfectly slotted the ball beyond the reach of onrushing goalkeeper Richmond Ayi.
Four minutes later, Obeng Junior had another glorious opportunity to level the score for Hearts but instead of hitting the target, the young striker opted to lay a pass to which was timely intercepted by Razak Kasim to save the situation.
After the break, Hearts improved their performance and Gladson Awako came close to equalising by the 49th minute but his shot narrowly missed the target.
Hearts finally brought on Muntari for William Dankyi by the 77th minute while Fatawu Mohammed replaced Gladson Awako as they pushed men forward for the equalizer.
Muntari quickly announced his presence with a log pass to Daniel Afriyie Barnieh but the youngster failed to make the most out of it to the frustration of the home supporters.
Hearts continued with their search for the all-important goal but Olympics were resolute at the back and prevented the Phobians from having an opening to slot home the equalizer.
The defeat means that Hearts are now ten points behind Asante Kotoko who have two games in hand.
