Posted by Head Coach of Accra Hearts of Oak Slavko Matic has reacted to his side’s two penalty misses in the final minutes of the MTN FA Cup Round of 32 game against Dreams FC.
Hearts of Oak who are holders of the MTN FA Cup were kicked out of the competition by Dreams FC on Sunday at the Accra Sports Stadium. Dreams won the game 1-0 courtesy an early goal scored by Agyenim Boateng Mensah.
Later in the game, the Phobians could have had an equalizer when they were awarded a penalty after Kwadwo Obeng Jnr was fouled in the box.
The kick was taken by Benjamin Yorke and was saved by goalkeeper Augustine Koomson. However, the referee rightly ordered for a retake after he spotted the goalkeeper move off his line before the kick was taken.
Samuel Inkoom took responsibility to effect the penalty after a long disagreement over the legitimacy of the call from the referee. Once again, the kick was saved by Augustine Koomson.
— Zongo Obama (@ShaibuArshavin1) January 23, 2023
Reacting to the disappointment, Head Coach of the team blamed it on not having his designated taker Ibrabim Salifu on the field.
“We had problems before the game, on the pitch too we had problems. We had to change Addo because he had a potential serious injury and I hope it’s not. After that I change Salifu who’s responsible for penalties. I mean things happen just like that and I must make two changes because of injury and Salifu who must take penalty was outside,” he told StarTimes after the game.
“We deserved the penalty, we pushed. We made lot of attacks. We had lot of the ball in our legs but at the end we didn’t score. Hard luck, we continue,” he added.
The 1-0 defeat means Hearts of Oak are out of the FA Cup and will be unable to defend the title they’ve won in the past two seasons.
Slavko Matic and his team will have to dump the disappointment and look forward to their next assignment. The Phobians will return to action in the league against Medeama on Saturday, January 28 at the Akoon Park in Tarkwa.