Accra Hearts of Oak put their survival hopes in their own hands after sneaking past Bechem United 1-0 in the Ghana Premier League on Sunday.
Young forward Kenneth Okoro won the tie for the Phobians with a clinical header in the 25th minute vanquished Bechem United swapped places with the rainbow-jerseyed side in the drop zone.
Hearts knew they needed nothing but the maximum points from the game to forge ahead on their survival campaign while Bechem also had to improve their poor run at the Accra Sports Stadium to better their chances of staying afloat.
Stop-gap Hearts coach Eddie Ansah named Abdoulaye Soulama in post as the Burkina Faso goalkeeper made a return from suspension to replace the injured Tetteh Luggard. While Kenneth Okoro was rewarded for his performance at Liberty by earning a spot upfront to partner Togolese forward Foovi Aguidi and Thomas Abbey.
Bechem United coach Malik Jabir named Cofie Bekoe in his side to face his former club and partnered him with Noal Martey who has notched 9 goals in the current campaign.
But the attacking threats posed by the duo was well contained by Inusah Musah and captain Robin Gnagne.
Hearts created several scoring chances and should have ended the game by a bigger margin but Okoro and Foovi all missed glorious chances.
Full-back Isaac Oduro seemed to have doubled the lead for Hearts with a brilliant free-kick but his effort was diverted into the side-netting.
Hearts have now moved out of the relegation zone to occupy 12th spot with 35 points but must win against Medeama SC in Tarkwa to seal their fate.