Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
I’m beginning to
sound like a stuck gramophone record saying the same thing week in and week out
for Ankaragucu (and Genclerbirligi) matches recently !!!
It is quite
obvious that the team is not fully equipped for life in the Super League,
especially up front, when as we all know, the round thingie must be put between
the sticks, and not over the bar or past the uprights !! I
don’t want to start naming names, but I’m sure most of you know the
culprits ??!!
Basaksehir is
the only undefeated team in the Super League and sit on top of the league, so
on paper, they were favourites to take all 3 points, BUT, it could have been so
different if Ankaragucu had the players up front to take advantage of all the
cross balls played into the box by the midfield, especially by my Man of the
Match, Oguz.
Scoring the
equaliser at the start of the 2nd half should have been the signal
for Ankaragucu to find the winner, but as I said, they don’t have a predatory
striker and that is a glaring deficiency which Omer Bey must rectify ASAP. Failure to do so and there is little likelihood
of Ankaragucu escaping from the relegation zone !
ANKARAGUCU 1 Istanbul Basaksehir 2
Team – Gokhan,
Oguz, Uros, Nihad, Yasin, Taylan, Tolga, Emre, Pedrinho, Giorgi and Ali Sowe
Substitutes
- Atakan, Jese, Frederico, Ariyibi and
Zahid
Battle Damaged
Kanka Damon and I went to The Eryaman Stadium and met 3 ‘honourary kankas’. Yasar, his wife Karen and son Kursat.
We had barely
settled down to enjoy the match when Basak took the lead in the 2nd
minute .......aaaaargh............ and what a disaster for the Ankaragucu
defence with ‘schoolboy basic mistakes’.
It really was a comedy of errors outside the box in the centre to clear
the ball but instead it was sent to Okaka who probably couldn’t believe his
luck. He surged forward unchallenged
and sent the ball inside the left post to stun the team ........... and us long
suffering supporters !
Ankaragucu didn’t
heed the wake up call. They continued
to be caught in possession and guilty of being split seconds behind in 50/50
balls !
Ankaragucu
fashioned their 1st real attack of the match on the half hour mark
when after good work by Oguz on the right, he sent over an inviting ball to the
centre but Ali Sowe contrived to send the ball past the right post.
I should also
mention Ankaragucu’s wasted opportunities at corners in the 1st half. 2 short corners were both wasted as they
lost possession with their dithering............. for short corners there
should be a plan ........... shouldn’t there
??!! 2 more corners were
wasted when the ball was sent to the near post when most of the Ankaragucu
attackers were at the back post !!!
The 2nd
half was only 5 minutes old when Ankaragucu was thrown a lifeline !
A break on the right and the
cross was sent in to Emre in the centre.
However, before he could attack the ball he was flattened by a Basak
defender. The referee pointed immediately
to the spot. Up stepped Tolga to send
his shot inside the left post and raise the volume of the supporters in all the
tribunes.
The search for
the winner didn’t materialise and it was Basak who looked the likelier to score
and so that’s what happened with 10 minutes to go. I have to be honest here and admit to
checking details of The Mighty Hibernian’s great victory against Ross County,
so I didn’t see the winning goal.
Neither did Damon and Yasar, but Karen did, and she said it was a long
range shot from outside the box by Turuc which sailed past Gokhan for the
winning goal. Perhaps Nadeem can give
more details in the comments section of this report ??!!
So, that leaves
Ankaragucu stuck in 4th bottom position in the league, but it may
not be a hopeless situation with mid-table security still in sight.
Ankaragucu will
be away next Saturday against fellow strugglers Istanbulspor and a win there
would see Ankaragucu claw their way out of the relegation zone. However, it’s a big ask based on last
night’s performance, but who knows what will happen if Omer Bey can instil some
fire up front and a 90 plus minutes performance !!
As always, watch
this space for the outcome !
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
No comments:
Post a Comment