Herbert's ghost, Chelsea's cred, and number crunching after the weekend's games. It's our look back at what has been a potentially seminal matchday. Kweku Arhin reports.

Before we begin. these are the results of the weekend.

Nathaniel Asamoah goes missing

The leading goal scorer has been stuck on 13 goals since June 21.

This record extends back to matchday 19. Much more worrying is the fact that Nathaniel has an abysmal record away from home.

He was taken off in the early stages of Sunday’s game with Liberty, which raised more concerns about his ability away from Tarkwa. The race for the golden boot is gathering steam. In recent weeks, five players have tied at the 10-goal mark, three behind Asamoah.

With eight games to go, the onus now lies on the former Kotoko striker to up his game or relinquish the title to other charging contenders on his heels.

- Joy Sports' Benedict Owusu brought us live commentary from the Carl Reindorf Park for Liberty - Medeama.

Chelsea are now true contenders 

It's been difficult to make categorical statements about any team's title credentials this season because of the sheer inconsistency across the pond. Even for long-time league leaders, AshGold, their vacillation has left pundits wary of giving them that tag.

Which is why when Liberty or Aduana moved into second at various points, we've been cool about hyping them. But maybe Berekum Chelsea can be an exception now, with eight games to finish the league.

The Berekum side began the season in abysmal fashion having been stripped off some points for failing to fulfill certain financial obligations. Chelsea weathered the storm, regained the points and are on a roll now.

They have won 10 out of 11 home games and, more impressively, broke their away jinx on Sunday. There was o better way to stop their two-year poor form on the road than to wallop Kotoko 3-0 in Kumasi. The Blues are now four points behind Ashantigold and given their very decent home form, the Brong side will push Ashantigold to the wire.

Chelsea have bagged 30 goals with the duo of Kofi Owusu and Stephen Baffour scoring 20 of those. This is stuff of true contenders, no? 

- Luv FM's Kofi Asare brought us live commentary from the Baba Yara Stadium for Kotoko - Chelsea.

Was Herbert Addo right?

19 days ago, Herbert Addo lambasted fans who attributed the club’s failure down to technical deficiencies.

The experienced manager stated that only 30% of a team's fortunes were down to the manager and technical body while the rest must be borne by management and board. Two weeks after that press conference, Herbert and Hearts parted ways.

Two games have been played since his departure and the poor results continue. Could Herbert be right for shifting the blame to other sections of the team? Or did his over-tinkering fail to make the team gel? 

For now, Herbert Addo will be vindicated by with eight games to go, the true cause of Hearts’ plight will be revealed.

- Precious Semevoh brought us live commentary from the Agyemang Badu Park in Berekum for Aduana - Hearts.

Kotoko’s over reliance on Toure proven

Reds boss David Duncan appeared to be a relieved man after a horrific start to the second round of the season with the Porcupine Warriors. He had finally calmed some nerves after fetching wins against Bechem United and Olympics, not to forget qualifying to the final of the MTN FA Cup.  

But after Sunday's 3-0 home drubbing at the hands of Chelsea, Duncan will be faced with more problems than solutions.

Far more importantly, the player who secured their wins against Bechem United and Olympics was only fit enough for the bench leaving the Kumasi side blunt in attack. Duncan’s trump card has been revealed and should the Ivorian be out for long, the strike pair of Obed Owusu and Dauda Mohammed will have to double their efforts to ensure the Porcupines do not slip further down the table. They are currently 10th.

Liberty Professionals are losing steam

The Dansoman side began the second round brilliantly to the extent they were joint second at a point. The highlight came with a convincing 3-1 win over Asante Kotoko.

Since then, the scientific soccer lads have been on the decline, losing two games and picking one point out of a possible nine.

This has seen them drop to seventh. Was their mid season form a fluke or complacency set in the ranks of the Dansoman side? George Lamptey will need to find a solution to their ailments as they can easily drop into the relegation zone with only a four point difference.

The top half's zonal structure

The top half of the table has seen an even distribution of teams in two zones of the country. The top eight, in descending order, are: Ashantigold, Chelsea, Aduana, Inter Allies, WAFA, Wa All Stars, Hasaacas and Liberty.

Ashantigold, Chelsea, Aduana and Wa All Stars represent the northern zone of the country while Inter Allies, WAFA, Hasaacas and Liberty represent the southern zone of the country.

The top four however is dominated by the northern zone with Ashantigold, Chelsea and Aduana representing the northern zone while Inter Allies represent the southern zone. It is worth the last five winners of the Premiership have emerged from the northern zone. Kotoko with three and Aduana and Chelsea with one apiece.

The last team to win from the southern sector was Accra Hearts of Oak in the 2008/2009 season.

Goals, goals, goals

14 out of the 16 teams in the league have crossed the 20-goal mark.

Aduana Stars and B.A United are the only teams yet to do so, with 18 and 14 goals respectively. Berekum Chelsea have even gone further already to hit the 30-goal mark.

Despite this poor goal-scoring form, Aduana have proven a solid defence wins titles - as they showed us when they won the league with just 19 goals. Aduana are currently third.

The same cannot be said of BA United who are flirting with relegation after netting 14 and conceding 34.  All the same, the other 14 teams have hit the twenty goal mark and no one will bet against the teams hitting 30 before the season ends.

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CLICK TO READ: Match-by-match review of matchday 22

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Follow Kweku on Twitter: @nana_odum. Get more from us via the #JoySports hashtag on Facebook/Twitter. The Joy Sports team brought live commentary from the Accra Sports Stadium, Carl Reindorf Park, Agyemang Badu Park and the Baba Yara Stadium.