Karela United hit four past Berekum Chelsea to take top spot, Hearts of Oak moved to top four with fairly comfortable victory and Kotoko could only take a point in Sogakope.

Here are the talking points:

CK Akonnor joins the GPL fever

Nine matchdays have taken place with lots of action, goals and brilliant performances from individual players.

Club football is taking place around the world and with the AFCON qualifiers coming up later this year, the hunt for talents continue.

Charles Akonnor, the head coach of the Black Stars, has been closely watching local talents for some time now.

In the last few weeks, the former Asante Kotoko gaffer has been mostly spotted at the Accra Sports stadium.

https://twitter.com/Bill_Eshun/status/1350821012833792004?s=20

In the just ended matchday, he made the trip to Obuasi to watch his former club, AshantiGold take on Medeama at the Len Clay Sports Stadium.

The fixture witnessed talents like Justice Blay, Appiah McCarthy and others but unfortunately, the match ended goalless.

However, the tie brought some twists, turns and display of skill, something that will surely be pleasing to the eye of the former Black Stars skipper.

As the weeks progress, it is expected that Akonnor will watch more local games and pick the best talents among them for the senior national team.

Karela, genuine contenders for the league?

Before the start of the campaign, stakeholders made predictions teams expected to win the league.

It is safe to say that Karela barely came into mind and rightly so.

The Ayinase-based club were at the bottom of the truncated league last season and were somewhat expected to continue their poor form.

But, this season, Karela have topped the league on more occasions and as things stand, have a one-point lead at the summit.

Ashgold, Bechem and others are sniffing around but Karela should be regarded as genuine contenders for the title.

Diawisie Taylor and Daniel Lomotey begin early battle for golden boot

In every football match, a goal is important in determining the winner.

WAFA and Karela can easily boast of good finishers who can earn points for them.

Diawisie Taylor has netted eight goals for Karela and Lomotey has done same for WAFA. They are both top of the goalscoring chart.

Taylor's eight goals make up 50% of Karela's goal tally (16). He has actually netted at least one goal in his last five games for his team (6 in 5 games).

Lomotey's goal tally amounts to 57% of WAFA's total (14). He has netted five goals in his last three league games.

There are still a lot of games left to be played. Other goalscorers will likely step up. However, the two finishers are on the right path.

Kotoko's troubles at Sogakope continue

Ahead of matchday 9, Kotoko were pretty confident.

The Porcupine Warriors recorded a fairly comfortable victory over Liberty Professionals on matchday 8 and fans got a real taste of Brazilian midfielder Fabio Gama.

But, the tricky away venue in Sogakope awaited and once again, Kotoko failed to claim all three points, with the game ending 1-1.

The Kumasi-based side have failed to record a victory away at Sogakope in the last 15 years, a highlight of the team's struggles anytime they face the Academy boys.

Kotoko (7th) are currently a point behind and could move to fourth if they win their game in hand.

Hearts of Oak, an improved side under Kosta Papic

Before the second coming of Kosta Papic, Hearts of Oak had some on field and off field issues.

On present-day, those issues seem to be a distant memory. The Phobians have been excellent since the Serbian's appointment.

The Accra-based side have earned 14 points from a possible 21 under Papic's guidance (4W 2D 1).

14 goals have been scored by that run and two particular players have been key contributors to those goals.

Manaf Umar and Victor Aidoo have combined for seven goals since Papic took over. It equates to 50% of the club's goals scored since matchday three.

Hearts have moved up to the top four and with their current form, they can make a great case for the league title.

--