Medeama SC’s visit to Accra last Saturday in the match-day 16 of the Ghana Premier League ended in defeat to new entrants Accra Lions, following poor refereeing decisions against the visitors.
Coach Rabi handed new signings Jean Vital and striker, Justice Mensah their debut which they impressed but saw their effort thwarted by poor officiating.
To what could have been a tone setter for the visitors to our glittering start on the afternoon, saw midfielder Kwesi Donsu’s 20th minute goal following a nice team build up and a set up from new signing, Ato Mensah mysteriously flagged offside by Assistant referee 2, Barnabas Amenyo, to the hilarity of everyone at the stadium.
The home side, Accra Lions capitalised on the poor refereeing decision which Medeama players had not fully recovered from to the lead 11 minutes after, through Hamidu Abdul Fataw’s screamer.
Medeama came into the picture for the remaining 14 minutes plus 4 minutes of time added on in the first half but wasn’t enough to go on level until referee Emmanuel Don Quansah, whistled for the end of the first half.
Coach Omar Rabi, took advantage of the recess to psyche the players to get over the refereeing mess in his pep talks, which saw the players come in strongly in the second half to chase the equaliser and possibly seal victory but that was not meant to be; as the first half striker by Hamidu was enough to gift Accra Lions the maximum 3 points at stake.
Captain Joseph Tetteh Zutah was replaced in the 50th minutes by Kojo Asamoah; as a double substitution of Rashid Nortey and Ansu Kofi Patrick for Kwesi Donsu and Ebenezer Ackahbi respectively was made 78 minutes into the game.
After 5 minutes of additional time in the second half, when Referee Don Quansah brought the game to an end, there were loads of reactions from spanning from journalists and fans, who could not believe how the FIFA law 11 was interpreted by the referee Don Quansah and his charges on Medeama’s goal which was disallowed strangely.
Medeama are now 3 points behind 2nd placed, Bechem United, who have 29 points and same points as 3rd placed Kumasi King Faisal, 26.
Medeama welcome Dreams FC to the Akoon Park on Sunday, February 13 in the last match of the first round.
Watch Medeama’s disallowed goal below:
Below are some reactions on Twitter:
The referee should be ban frm officiating, he’s not qualified to handle a premier league match. Such a shame
— JuxMaq (@JuxNeo) February 6, 2022
They took this clean goal as offside as well😿😿 pic.twitter.com/anCRSDyI1j
— Mohammed Mansur ⭕️ (@iamZarate) February 6, 2022
How the hell is this offside, people will talk oh even epl it happens so move on. Naa bro epl shouldn’t be the yardstick. Integrity should be. Ref shouldn’t officiate again till the end of the season period. @MedeamaSC @ghanafaofficial pic.twitter.com/QGLYLpmhmM
— Russel Wiafe (@RusselWiafe1) February 6, 2022
Starting lineup: Mandjui Boris Junior, Benjamin Abaidoo, Samuel Frimpong, Vincent Atinga, Jean Vital, King Archerson, Kofi Asmah, Kwesi Donsu, Tetteh Zutah, Ebenezer Ackahbi, Justice Mensah
Unused subs: Mossie, Boakye, Yaro, Mumuni, Sulemana, Musah