Hearts of Oak tactician David Ocloo believes his goalkeeper Richmond Ayi was not at fault when they suffered a humiliating defeat to Medeama on Sunday in the Ghana Premier League.
The Yellow and Mauve swept aside the Premier League giants at the Accra Sports Stadium as they leapfrogged Aduana to reach the summit of the league standings.
The Tarkwa-based club inflicted an emphatic 5-1 win over the Phobians to go top of the table after 31 matches.
Medeama shot into the lead through Derrick Fordjour in the 17th minute but the Phobians restored parity through a Salifu Ibrahim spot kick on 31 minutes.
The visitors scored two additional goals through Vincent Atinga and Jonathan Sowah as they went to recess with a 3-1 advantage.
After the break, Jonathan Sowah and Kwesi Donsu found the back of the net again to seal a comfortable 5-1 win.
In an interview, the former Kotoko assistant coach jumped to the defense of the goalkeeper, saying he should not be blamed for any of the goals conceded against Medeama.
“Ayi dived to catch the ball, but unfortunately, the ball bounced after it hit the ground and took a different direction. So I can't blame him. If we had good pitches like Wembley, then we can boldly blame the goalkeeper for such a terrible mistake. No one should blame the goalkeeper for any of the goals” he said.
Following the defeat, Hearts of Oak are now seventh on the table with three matches to end the season. They will lock horns with Legon Cities in their next fixture.