Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
In one of
Ankaragucu’s best performances of the season last night they made a statement
of intent to the teams in the bottom half of the league that they are ready and
willing to fight off the threat of relegation.
True enough,
they are not out of the woods yet, but they can surely be encouraged that they
took the scalp of a strong Basaksehir team who are still in the hunt for
qualifying for a European Competition next season.
With 8 matches left
it is still all to play for, and the hope is that Ankaragucu can deliver
consistent performances similar to last night’s.
The fight is
still very much .........on !!!
ANKARAGUCU 2 Basaksehir 1
Team – Bahadir,
Kitsiou, Atakan, Mujakic, Alper, Tolga, Pedrinho, Bassogog, Morutan, Tasos and
Ali Sowe
Substitutes –
Ali Kaan, Arda, Kazimcan, Renaldo and Macheda
The first half
was fairly even with the match swinging from end to end, but with only 2 clear cut
chances.
Ali Sowe almost
scored when he hit the post with a header with the goalkeeper beaten.
At the other
end, Bahadir made a great save from a shot just outside the box which was
heading in.
7 minutes into
the 2nd and Tasos should have done better when well placed, but he
sent his shot well over the bar.
However, 4
minutes later and the breakthrough arrived when Ali Sowe was brought down in
the box. No argument
.........penalty ! Captain Tolga stepped up to the mark
and sent a fierce shot inside the left post. A perfect penalty !
Basak searched
for the equaliser, but Bahadir was equal to the efforts which came his way.
Then came The
Goal of the Match. A long clearance
was made to Ali Sowe who avoided 3 attempted tackles as he surged into the box
before sending his shot inside the left post.
Game over ?
Not quite.
Renaldo was put
through on the left but the goalkeeper narrowed the angle of his shot to
prevent the 3rd goal.
10 minutes to go
and Basak pulled a goal back which resulted in a comedy of errors and a slice
of luck ! A cross was sent in from the right to the
back post which wasn’t dealt with by Bahadir and the defence. With the ball bobbing around, Bahadir in
the sitting position, Figueiredo was allowed to prod the ball over the line for
a soft and sloppy goal.
Ankaragucu
quelled Basak’s search for the equaliser and calmly ran the clock down !
There is now a 2
weeks break in league action for International matches next weekend and a
General Election in Turkey the following weekend.
Ankaragucu will
be in action again on 2nd or 3rd of April when they
travel to play Antalyaspor who are sitting in the top half of the league and no
doubt still looking to move further up the league to qualify for European
football next season.
As always, watch
this space for the outcome.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
Great striker Sowe
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