Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
This is a photo
of the kankas celebrating Ankaragucu’s return to the Super League at The Alerta
Bar last year around this time after spending ‘a few years’ in the Championship
and 2nd Division (the reasons for that are well documented in this
Blog !!).
Ankaragucu’s
plan therefore was to ensure that this season was one of consolidation, and
apart from a few blips earlier this season, it seems that it is still possible,
despite a heavy defeat in Istanbul last night.
It was a cruel
score line which doesn’t accurately reflect the match. The Besiktas goalkeeper, Karius, was in
superb form and saved Besiktas blushes on numerous occasions, especially in the
1st half. Also, the referee
awarded Besiktas a dubious penalty at a crucial stage of the match leaving
Ankaragucu with a mountain to climb.
I’m not saying
that Besiktas was lucky to win the match because they took their chances well,
and they are sure to give Galata.....spit....saray a difficult match next
weekend as they seek Champions League qualification.
Besiktas 4
ANKARAGUCU 1
Team – Altay,
Kulusic, Kitsiou, Pinto, Pazdan, Moke, Sacko, Sedat, Canteros, Boyd and Orgill
Substitutes – Moulin,
Alihan and Ilhan
The kankas, Posh
Kanka Ahmet, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I met-up at last year’s venue, The
Alerta Bar, where we had the screen to ourselves more-or-less.
There was a
poignant one minute silence prior to the kick off when everyone was protesting
against Child Molestation in Turkey.
This arose out of a recent incident when a 5 year old girl was raped in
Istanbul by an immigrant from Pakistan.
Sad days indeed when this occurs, and not only in Turkey !
So to the footie
and Ankaragucu made a confident start when Orgill tested Karius only 5 minutes
in, but he saved well.
3 minutes later
and an opportunist goal from Burak when he collected a pass on the left, and
with the Ankaragucu defence back-pedalling, he only had Kitsiou to beat which
he did easily. He then fired in a
thunderous shot to the near post which Altay had no chance of saving.
Ankaragucu heads
didn’t go down. On the contrary, they
were playing some excellent footie and stroking the ball around and making
Besiktas work for the ball, but falling short in the final 3rd.
15 minutes in
and Sacko had a shot on goal which took an unlucky deflection for a corner.
Half an hour in
and what was probably the save of the match.
A corner was sent in by Canteros and met perfectly by Pazdan whose
header was destined for the top corner.
However, somehow Karius flew to the left and tipped the ball over for a
corner. An amazing piece of
goalkeeping.
3 minutes later
and he produced a similar acrobatic save to prevent Sedat’s goalbound shot
going in to the same top corner. A further
3 minutes and Canteros had a chance to score but he shot tamely at Karius.
So, it was
disappointing to go in at half time 0-1 down but great goalkeeping and
Ankaragucu’s old problem of giving the ball away too easy in the final 3rd
was their downfall. We were still
optimistic at this point though !
Into the 2nd
half and it was Besiktas who started the more purposeful and Altay was called
into action after 5 minutes to save from a fast Besiktas breakaway.
3 minutes laster
and some sloppy play from Canteros when he was dispossessed easily in midfield
which allowed a dangerous attack, but Altay saved bravely, but could only parry
the ball due to the power of the shot, and it fell conveniently for Vida who
tapped into the unprotected goal. A
cruel blow for Altay.
7 minutes later
and Besiktas received another lucky break when the referee awarded a dubious
penalty when he decided that an attacker was pushed in the box. We had the luxury of a replay and I’m
surprised that he didn’t go to the VAR because it looked very much like he fell
before the tackle came in. Anyway, up
stepped Burak who dispatched the perfect shot into the left corner which evaded
Altay’s outstretched arm.
Still Ankaragucu’s
heads didn’t go down and they came forward again looking for a foothold into
the match and it almost came in the 70th minute from a Canteros free
kick which was met perfectly by Alihan who sent a bullet of a header goalbound,
but again Karius pulled off a remarkable save to exasperate us all !
However, the elusive
goal came 4 minutes later when the referee awarded a penalty against a Besiktas
defender for elbowing the ball away from Pazdan
Boyd took
responsibility and sent a weak shot to Karius who parried the ball and the
follow-up was past the post and out.
This time the referee did respond to complaints and consulted his VAR which
showed clearly that some Besiktas players had encroached into the area prior to
the ball being struck.
Another penalty
was his decision and this time Sacko took responsibility sending Karius the wrong
way.
If we were
looking for an all-out assault on the Besiktas goal we were disappointed four
minutes later when Besiktas ‘put the match to bed’. A fast passing move on the left between 3
players allowed Ljajic to send in a screamer which Altay was helpless to do
anything about.
5 minutes to go
and Ankaragucu still attempted to attack and snatch another consolation goal,
but their final attempt hit the post and was cleared.
As I said at the
beginning, it was cruel to have to much of the ball and to find a goalkeeper at
the top of this game, but as always, the bottom line is ........... putting the
round thing between the sticks is what counts and Besiktas took their chances
in that department !
So, with 4
matches left, Ankaragucu is only 6 points ahead of 3rd bottom Bursa
and therefore can’t afford to relax their endeavours in the run-in.
Ankaragucu will
be at home next Saturday KO 4pm against 7th placed Rize and they can
expect another tough test against a stingy and stubborn Rize side who have
fought out 12 draws this season.
It will
certainly be a ferocious scrap in the run-in with no team certain for
relegation at this stage.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
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