Following an exciting build-up, the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League began in style, with all 9 fixtures taking place between Friday and Sunday.
Accra Lions and Elmina Sharks set the ball rolling for the new season as they played out a scoring draw at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Kumasi Asante Kotoko then secured their first victory of the season on Saturday as they took all three points away from Dreams who were playing host on the day.
7 more fixtures would continue on Sunday as defending champions Accra Hearts of Oak were held to a goalless draw while Bibiani Gold Stars secured an impressive victory in their first top flight game.
But what were the key data and highlights from week 1 of the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League season?
Week 1 data
First goal of the season
Michelle Sarpong of Elmina Sharks, with his strike in the 64th minute against debutants Accra Lions, became the first goal scorer of the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League season.
Wins, draws and defeats
There were five wins recorded in the first week of the 21/22 Ghana Premier league season, an improvement on what was recorded on the opening day of last season.
In the 2020/21 season, only Aduana Stars and WAFA recorded wins, but Kotoko, Ashanti Gold, King Faisal, Bechem United and Bibiani Gold Stars ensured that the situation was different this time.
Out of the five wins recorded in the first week, 3 were home wins while 2 of them were away wins (recorded by Kotoko and Ashanti Gold).
There were four draws recorded in match week 1 of the new season.
Goals scored
While the number of wins have increased as compared to last season, the number of goals scored has reduced.
25 goals were scored on the opening day of last season, thanks to the seven goal thriller between WAFA and King Faisal and the 2-2 draws by Dwarfs and Sharks as well as Ashanti Gold and Karela United.
This season, 17 goals were recorded in the first week, with Bechem United recording the highest number of goals with 4 against Medeama.
Of the total goals, 7 were scored by away teams, representing approximately 41% while 10 goals were scored by home teams, with a percentage of 59%.
Goal and assist kings
With 2 strikes in his side’s 4-0 thrashing of Medeama SC on opening day, Emmanuel Avornyo of Bechem United leads the golden boot race with 2 goals.
Only 3 players have netted 20 goals and above since 2001 and it remains to be seen if the player can join the likes of Ishmael Addo, Emmanuel Baffour and Mahatma Otoo after the end of the season.
In terms of the assist chart, Isaac Oppong leads the way with 2 assists after turning provider on two occasions in his side’s 3-1 win over Dreams.
Other stats
- Six goalkeepers kept a clean sheet in the opening week of the season. They include Richard Attah, Eric Ofori Antwi, Kofi Mensah, Iddrisu Abdulai, Ernest Kussi and Frank Boateng.
- Two red cards were recorded on the opening day. Marvin Owusu of WAFA and Abdul Karim of Bechem United were at the receiving end.
Week 1 highlights
Barren first halves
Week 1 of the Ghana Premier League was characterized by barren first halves as most clubs struggled to open the scoring in the first 45 minutes of games.
With the exception of the game between Bechem United and Medeama, which saw the former thrashing the latter, and the one goal scored by Great Olympics against RTU all of the games had 0-0 first halves.
Thus, only 3 goals out of the 17 were scored in the first half, representing a percentage of approximately 18%, while 14 were scored in the second half, with a percentage of 52%.
Late goals
More second half goals meant that more late goals were scored in week 1 of the new season.
50% of the second half goals were scored in the 80th minute and above, with Kotoko majorly influencing the figure.
The Porcupine Warriors netted all goals between the 86th and 90th minute of the game.
Other late goals include Salifu Rauf’s 81st equalizer for Accra Lions, David Abagna’s 88th minute equalizer for RTU through the penalty spot, Zubairu Ibrahim’s 86th winner for King Faisal and Augustine Ocran’s 92nd goal for Bechem United.
Kotoko’s away record
In the build-up to the season, Kotoko’s imperious away record in the league last season was pointed out.
They secured 26 points on the road as they won 6 times, drew 8 and lost 3 times.
The Porcupines were on the verge of recording their first away defeat on Saturday, as Dreams FC were in control up until the 85th minute, but were able to turn things around with quick-fire goals.
Mudasiru Salifu put the team on level terms in the 86th minute before debutants Isaac Oppong and Richmond Lamptey netted in the 89th and 91st minutes respectively to give them all the three points.
Debutants’ joy
Whether managers, clubs or players, there was some joy for debutants in the Ghana Premier League’s new season.
For the newly promoted sides, Bibiani Gold Stars will be the most elated after securing an impressive victory in their first top flight fixture.
Both Accra Lions and Real Tamale would have wished for same but securing a draw is certainly an encouraging result.
Most notably, it was Kotoko’s debutant players who made the best impression in week 1 of the 21/22 Ghana Premier League season.
Richmond Lamptey certainly did not look lost as he settled in with his new club after failing to help Inter Allies stay up last season.
The player was adjudged as the man of the match for an impressive performance which was capped off with a thunderous trademark goal to ice the cake for the Porcupine warriors.
Another debutant, Isaac Oppong, who has been dubbed in some circles as the “Suyani Neymar” scored Kotoko’s second goal which was sandwiched between providing assists for Salifu and Lamptey for the first and third goals respectively.
The two away wins secured in week 1 of the new season were by new coaches.
Prosper Nartey who replaced Mariano Barreto was responsible for Kotoko’s 3-1 win over the weekend while Ernest Thompson oversaw Ashanti Gold’s 1-0 win over Eleven Wonders.
When does the action continue?
The 21/22 season continues this week, with two regional derbies headlining the weekend’s fixtures.
Accra Great Olympics who picked up a point away from home against RTU will hope to hand newcomers Accra Lions their first defeat of the season.
Medeama, after their 4-0 thrashing, would have the task of stopping the buoyant Bibiani Gold Stars in what will be the first of three Western regional derbies for the season.
