Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
Towards the end
of the match, and especially in time added on, Ankaragucu was hanging on to
their lead as Istanbulspor pressed forward looking for the equaliser, which at
times looked likely to come.
However, let’s
not detract from the result which will go and long way to calm frayed nerve ends !!
Ankaragucu is not out of the ‘danger area’ in the league yet, but hope
is still alive and well !
I don’t like to
criticise players who obviously don’t try to be ineffective, but I have to say
that Tasos’s days at the Club are surely numbered. Milson must play up front in support of
Ali !!
Diack had
another excellent match and seems to be growing into a commanding figure in the
midfield ............and attack !!
Not a full house
as one could have reasonably expected for a Saturday afternoon, but noisy and in
full voice as usual. I had to smirk
when I looked at the ‘away end’ and spotted TWO lonely souls !!
ANKARAGUCU 3 Istanbulspor 2
Team – Gokhan,
Firatcan, Radakovic, Mujakic, Matej, Diack, Taylan, Tasos, emre, Zahid and Ali
Sowe
Substitutes – Milson,
Atakan, Andrej and Kitsiou
With the match
swinging from end to end for the first 9 minutes, it suddenly took an unusual
twist and a piece of quick thinking by Ali to make a statement of intent. A routine looking back pass was made to
the Istanbulspor goalkeeper who looked like he was out for an afternoon stroll
in the park by surveying all around him.
However, he underestimated the speed of Ali bearing down on him and in
his panic to clear the ball it rebounded off Ali and into the back of the
net. As our Honourary Kanka, Murat
Kaya, said to me ......... ‘a lovely present
from the goalkeeper to Ankaragucu’ !!!
10 minutes later
and Gokhan saved a certain equaliser when he pushed the shot around the post
for a corner.
Approaching the
half hour mark and Ali again figured in the 2nd goal. He did all the hard work in an attack
down the left and eventually the ball was deflected into the path of Diack on
the right just inside the box who sent a first time shot inside the left post.
With Ankaragucu
attacking the Gecikondu end in the 2nd half, any thoughts that this
was going to be an easy victory for Ankaragucu disappeared just one minute into
the 2nd half when and defending by Ankaragucu in a goalmouth melee
allowing Sen to apply a final touch to give Ankaragucu a wake-up call !
Ankaragucu had a
great chance to restore the two goal cushion 3 minutes later when Zahid and Ali
combined well to set-up Taylan with a chance in the box, but he dithered over
the ball and the chance was lost when he was dispossessed.
The goal did
come 3 minutes later and it was that man Ali again who is fast becoming a
master of the angled shot. Good work
by Milson on the right and his pass was met by Ali on the right just inside the
box. He sent his fierce angled shot
inside the left post for Goal of the Match.
That’s it we
thought, but ............aaargh ................. 2 minutes later and Istanbulspor
snatched an unlikely 2nd goal.
The Ankaragucu defence must accept responsibility again for this. A poor headed clearance from inside the box
was sent direct to Lokilo lurking unmarked just outside the box and he sent a
harmless looking shot at goal which crept inside the left post. Gokhan, on reflection, will surely ask
himself why he didn’t react quicker to save this effort !!!
Into the final
stages of the match and Istanbulspor started to look like snatching the
equaliser with the Ankaragucu defence all over the place and looking
disorganised. They almost found it on
two occasions before the final whistle.
Firstly, Gokhan made a great save from a goal bound shot and then
another melee in the box with the ball bobbing around was eventually cleared in
a panic situation !
12 minutes of
time added on made for a tense run-in to the final whistle with Ankaragucu
guilty of time wasting !! Sighs of relief all round when the
referee blew for time ................ nail biting stuff which is not
recommended viewing for those with a weak heart !!
So, looking to
the future, and as we all know, and has been said here many times....... there
are no ‘easy’ matches in this league, and next Saturday certainly fails into
that category.
Ankaragucu
travel to take on a strong Fenerbahce team who are in the Semi Final of The
Turkish Cup and challenging Galatasaray at the top of the league. So, obviously Ankaragucu will need to
improve on yesterday’s performance, especially in defence where they looked so
vulnerable in the 2nd half.
It’s a big ask
for the team to go there a return with at least a point, but as they have shown
from time to time this season, they have it in them to do it !!
As always, watch
this space for the outcome.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
No comments:
Post a Comment