Sunday, November 25, 2018

ANKARAGUCU – DEFENSIVE FRAILTIES EXPOSED !




Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Smiles were in short supply last night hence no smiley photos with this report !

Well, to be honest we did manage a smile on two occasions.   Firstly, when El-Kabir scored a well deserved goal after previous attempts were thwarted, and secondly, when Battle Damaged Kanka Damon returned from the toilet to report he had witnessed my modification to one of the cartoons above the urinals !!!    Check it out when you can !

ANKARAGUCU  1           Besiktas     4

Team – Korcan, Erdem, Alihan, Yalcin, Pinto, Faty, Djedje, Kenan, El-Kabir, Bifouma and Kubilay

Substitutes used – Moulin and Cerci

Before I talk about the match, I would just like to say that it’s frustrating sometimes being a supporter of Turkish football.   With the new Eryaman Stadium still unfinished, last night’s match was scheduled for the Osmanli Stadium in Yenikent which Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi have been using since 19 Mayis Stadium has been demolished.

Then on Thursday or Friday last week, Besiktas complained to the TFF that the playing surface was not to their liking and requested an alternative venue.   Of course, the TFF willingly obliged, and why not ?!    After all, anything to put the sword into Ankaragucu – as we know, no love lost there !!

So, the TFF in ‘their wisdom’ nominated Kayseri Stadium as Ankaragucu’s home match venue.  A classic TFF decision !!         We all know that Osmanli Stadium doesn’t have the lush GREEN grass of Easter Road Stadium in Edinburgh, but it’s the same playing surface for BOTH teams.     Aaaaaargh !!!

That was a typical Oz Kanka Chris rant, and one I hope he will be proud of ??!!

Anyway, back to the match in question, and Battle Damaged Kanka, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I met up at The Anasson Bar full of optimism and the place was packed with mainly Ankaragucu supporters.

There were thousands of Ankaragucu supporters in the stadium on two sides with BJK supporters squeezed in at one end.    And .......... it took only 4 minutes into the match for the Ankaragucu supporters to make their presence felt when they threw ‘missiles’ from behind the goal at Karius the BJK goalkeeper which halted the match for a few minutes until order was restored !

On the restart Kenan almost scored when he latched onto a Bifouma cross but Karius saved well.

However, it was ominous at this early stage that BJK was looking dangerous and they almost went ahead in the 11th minute from a free kick outside the box on the right, but the effort hit the bar and was cleared.

5 minutes later and they did have the ball in the net but the referee obviously had a message from the linesman in his earphone and he called for a video replay.   The goal was chalked off and we still don’t know the reason.    Could have been an offside or an infringement off the ball ?

It only took a further 6 minutes for BJK to find the first goal and it was all down to the Ankaragucu defence being all at sea.    They will not relish the thought of Ismail Bey showing that next week in a video replay !!!    The BJK attackers were toying with the Ankaragucu defence playing tip-tap in the penalty area and the final ball was rifled in by Ljajic to give Korcan no chance.

BJK were rampant and giving Ankaragucu no time on the ball.   They were chasing everything and looking like a team on fire.    It was no surprise therefore when No2 arrived 4 minutes later and it was a peach of a goal.

A fast break down the right wing to the goal line, the classic cut-back which was back-heeled to the far post where Mustafa was lurking unmarked and he stroked it in with Korcan protecting his near post.

It was then time for the Ankaragucu supporters behind the goal to fire more ‘missiles’ at Karius and play was again held up for 3 minutes until order was restored !

Ankaragucu refused to throw the towel in and had two efforts on goal by El-Kabir which on any other day might have gone in.    Both goalbound efforts were saved by Karius for corners but the corners were wasted with poorly taken balls going straight to BJK defenders on the near post.

Two minutes from the break and the killer goal which again was a defensive howler.   The normally reliable Faty gave away a simple ball under no pressure and Guven had the benefit of the ball breaking in his favour to bear down on Korcan and calmly chip the ball over him for No3.

So, a catastrophic half with the defence all over the place and giving away too many free kicks, playing too many panic long balls out of defence and allowing BJK to totally control the match.

Cerci came out for the 2nd half in place of Kenan.

The 2nd half was only 7 minutes old when the Ankaragucu supporters near the corner flag decided to send more ‘missiles’ towards the BJK player attempting to take a corner kick.   This is surely going to entail a stadium ban for Ankaragucu.    Of course there is no excuse for throwing ‘missiles’ at players or coaching staff and we all know how the TFF takes delight in handing out punishments, especially to Ankaragucu !!!   So, I will be very surprised if the TFF don’t take action after studying the referee’s report.

At this stage of the match, BJK was stroking the ball around and making Ankaragucu make more mistakes and also making Ankaragucu concede yet more free kicks.

Then, against the run of play, Ankaragucu scored in the 60th minute when Pinto sent a great ball through to Djedje who evaded the chasing defenders and shot over the despairing dive of Karius.   However, celebrations were cut short when the video replay showed that Pinto had commited a foul before releasing Djedje.

El-Kabir had a chance 10 minutes later, but his looping header went just past the post with Karius beaten.

15 minutes to go and Korcan pulled off a reflex save to deny BJK and then El-Kabir had another header which went just over.

4 minutes to the final whistle and Ankaragucu conjured up a consolation goal thanks to some stubborn play from Cerci digging the ball out from a 50/50 situation with a defender.   He sent a peach of a pass to El-Kabir who angled his shot past Karius and in.    It was no more than El-Kabir deserved after his perseverance throughout the match.

Into the dying minutes of the match and BJK thrust the sword in deeper.   Another classic cut-back on the left to the unmarked Oguzhan who had the simple task of stroking the ball in with Korcan helpless.

Ankaragucu received a salutary football lesson and Ismail Bey has now a headache in trying to solve the defence problem.    He only has a few days to do it with the away match against bottom club Rize looming on Friday night KO 8pm.

As BJK proved last night, league positions should not be taken at face value.    There will be no ‘easy’ matches to come this season.    Let’s hope Ankaragucu can return from the Black Sea with 3 points to restore confidence.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim


2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:08 pm

    No need to talk what has happened last week in TFF including the referee and the change of stadium a day before the match. We are all familiar such things in Turkey But I have to mention that " other than El Kaber, in Ankaragücü there were nobody who had any belief to win the match yesterday. Lets look to Rize mmatch. Volkan.

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  2. Well said Volkan. However, I would mention that Djedje also put himself about and did his best, but as you quite rightly say ......... it takes more than 2 players to make a TEAM !

    Rize may be bottom, but they have a solid defence, so if we want to return with all 3 points then the team must be firing on ALL cylinders.

    Are you listening Ismail Bey ??!!

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