Liberty Professionals inflicted a painful 2-0 defeat to Hearts of Oak at the Accra Sports Stadium in the Glo Ghana Premier League late kick-off on Sunday night.Â
James Abban grabbed a brace in the second half to ensure the Hearts, who played the entire second period with ten men, suffered their second defeat of the season.
A minute before the break, leftt-back Owusu Sefa lunges in with a bad tackle he was sent off immediately by referee Charles Dowuona.
Hearts, who dropped points at home against Aduana in mid-week, were hoping to bounce back in the Capital derby.
The match was shifted from the Sly Tetteh Park to the Accra Sports Stadium because of television demands.
Five minutes after the hour mark, Abban popped up to apply the finishing touch to Kennedy Ashia's cross on the from a nice build up by the Scientific Soccer Lads.
Hearts tried to stage a comeback but were one man down.
They lacked ideas as the game wore on as Liberty stood very organized at the back and looked very menacing on the counter.
Liberty dominated their opponents with some scintillating football artistry and kept the 20-time champion to shadows.
On the 89th minute mark, a Hearts goalkeeper Sammy Adjei failed to deal with a corner-kick and Abban was around to turn home for the match's second goal and a personal double.
Hearts looked forlorn after the second goal and had very little time to make amends.
Liberty could have grabbed the third in extra-time but substitute Samuel Enzemaba blocked an incoming shot.
Hearts have now slipped to fourth place and three points behind leaders and rivals Asante Kotoko.
Liberty Professionals are still seventh on the league table.