Seydou Zerbo of Burkina Faso, the new head coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, took charge of his debut BetPawa Premier League match and drew 1-1 at home against Accra Hearts of Oak.
He suffered a defeat to Rail Club du Kadiogo in his first game at Baba Yara Sports Stadium in a CAF Champions League second leg, but he fared better in the first Super Clash of the Ghanaian football season.
In Kotoko’s opening game of the 2022/2023 BetPawa Premier League, Zerbo had to use a 4-2-3-1 strategy, with Steve Mukwala functioning as the main striker and is ably complemented by Eric Zézé, Stephen Amankona, and Isaac Oppong up front.
Seydou Zerbo’s methodology was evident in last Sunday’s Super Clash; Kotoko had several chances that day but struggled to take advantage of them, disappointing the home fans.
Steve Mukwala, Zerbo’s main striker, was given three scoring chances by Konadu Yiadom, but he shot the ball off target and failed to convert the other countless chances that came his way last Sunday.
The home team grabbed control of the game from the start of the second half and dominated the tempo offensively, but the centre referee, Selorm Yao Bless, denied them doubtful penalty kicks.
Unexpectedly, Zerbo’s squad gained the lead through centre defender Mubarik Yusif, only to be levelled in the 88th minute, which means they have a point after one game played under their new gaffer.
Seydou Zerbo, the new head coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, told StarTimes after the stalemate with Accra Hearts of Oak that he has to concentrate on his attackers to improve their goal-scoring prowess this season.
The Burkinabe gaffer said, “We still need to work on our finishing. You saw that we had a lot of chances but unfortunately, we couldn’t use them, but we will go back and work to utilise our chances in subsequent games.”
At the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, Seydou Zerbo will square off against Nsoatreman FC, a brand-new team in the BetPawa Premier League.
