Heart of Lions coach satisfied despite 1-0 Kotoko friendly defeat

Asante Kotoko defeated Heart of Lions 1-0 in a pre-season friendly, but Lions coach Kasim Gokyildiz remained pleased with his team's showing. The match was played across three 40-minute periods as both sides continued their preparations for the new season.

Gokyildiz felt Heart of Lions dictated the game for extended spells before conceding. The only goal came in the second period after an error by one of the team's centre-backs, a mistake that decided a closely contested fixture.

Heart of Lions made changes for the final period and created opportunities, although they were unable to convert them. Kotoko applied more pressure after taking the lead, but Gokyildiz believed the winners did not produce many clear chances from open play.

The Turkish coach placed greater importance on the performance than the result. He is using the pre-season matches to study individual displays, build his squad and measure how effectively the players are applying his tactical instructions.

Gokyildiz also said the team has sufficient quality to compete in the coming campaign and expects the preparation work to leave the squad ready for the season. The narrow loss therefore offered him encouragement despite Heart of Lions finishing without a goal.

For Kotoko, the result came after a difficult recent sequence. Their previous five results were four defeats and one win, including losses to Swedru All Blacks, Bechem United, Dreams and Medeama, with a victory over Eleven Wonders between those results. Kotoko's next listed fixture is away to Debibi United in the Ghana Premier League on September 5, 2026.