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Johnson Smith reveals why Naby Keita did not take penalty against Hearts of Oak

By Vincent Ashitey
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Asante Kotoko assistant coach Johnson Smith has clarified why the club's number 1 penalty kicker Naby Keita did not strike from the spot against Hearts of Oak.

According to the trainer, the Guinean import, who has been dispatching the club's penalty which ease relinquished the spot-kick duties to his striker partner Kwame Opoku because of his failure from the spot in the CAF Confederation cup against ES Setif in Accra.

READ ALSO: Penalties galore as Kotoko and Hearts of Oak share spoils in Super Clash

Opoku, however, failed to put Kotoko ahead from the spot.

“For a penalty kicker we say this guy is good. The guy who took the penalty last time is the same person who always takes our penalty but what happened is that, because he of his miss the other time he decided to leave it to Kwame Poku.”

“For us, we told them that any person who is confident of scoring should take the ball. In our team, Keita is the penalty taker” he said.

Sunday's Ghana Premier League matchday 14 outstanding encounter between Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak ended in a stalemate.

Despite both sides creating numerous chances they failed to find the back of the net as the game ended 0-0 at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The Porcupines started the game brightly as they had a penalty within a minute of kick off after Kwame Opoku was brought down in box by Nuru Sulley and referee Selorm Yao Bless pointed to the spot.

However, Opoku who is on 7 goals failed to add to his tally and put Kotoko ahead as his kick was saved by Richard Attah.

Hearts of Oak in the second half also had a penalty when Isaac Mensah was brought down by goalkeeper Razak Abalora in the box. Unfortunately, Mensah saw his spot-kick saved by the goalkeeper as the game ended 0-0.

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