Despite Accra Hearts of Oak narrowly defeating AS Real Bamako of Burkina Faso 1-0, they were eliminated from the CAF Confederation Cup qualifying round.
It took the Phobians till the 89th minute to score their first goal, a spectacular strike by Caleb Amankwah at the far post, in order to overcome a 3-0 deficit from the first leg.
However, it was too little, too late, and the FA Cup champions from Ghana are eliminated at the same stage as they were the previous year.
The first half demonstrated that David Ocloo’s team would have a difficult time overturning the result after their severe loss a week prior.
The Phobians struggled to penetrate the AS Bamako defense, and it took them until the 45th minute to register their first chance on goal, a weak header from center back Konadu Yiadom that the Bamako goalkeeper expertly saved.
Starting the second half, Ocloo made adjustments to both personnel and strategy by substituting Obeng Junior, Seidu Salifu, and Mohamed Alhassan, switching to a back 3, and sending more players forward.
But with assistance from their goalkeeper, who made a spectacular stop against Junior before center back Camara’s acrobatic goal line clearance kept the score level, the Bamako defended resolutely for the rest of the second half.
Amankwah, who converted on the volley after a corner kick to give Hearts a well-deserved lead, helped Hearts find the opening finally.
Hearts of Oak were forced to retire in front of their own supporters despite having five minutes of extra time to score two goals and trigger a penalty shootout.
