Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
It was a long
and enjoyable journey but Ankaragucu was eliminated from the Turkish Cup last
night at the semi-final stage on a 1-0 aggregate.
Ankaragucu was
unable to reach the final of The Turkish Cup last night despite some heroics by
their goalkeeper, Ertac, and a defensive blunder by a defender half way through
the 2nd half, as the match looked destined to be heading for extra
time.
This match now
falls into the category of ............history
!! More important matters
are at hand in the here-and-now in the shape of retaining their position in The
Super League for next season. There are
3 matches left to achieve this, starting this coming Sunday !
Besiktas 1 ANKARAGUCU 0
Team – Ertac,
Kitsiou, Radakovic, Mert, Mujakic, Tolga, Alexis, Efkan, Bassogog, Tasos and
Bajic
Substitutes –
Ali Sowe, Atakan, Pedrinho, Rodrigues and Macheda
There is not
much to say about the 1st half except the crucial save by Ertac and
the follow-up goal-line clearance by Radakovic approaching the half time
whistle.
At the other
end, Bassogog and Tasos were creating space and chances, but Bajic and Efkan
were unable to capitalise on them. The
closest Ankaragucu came was created by Bassogog on the right when he sent an
inch perfect pass to Alexis, but his first time shot went narrowly past the
post.
10 minutes into
the 2nd half and Ankaragucu almost found the opening goal when, from
a sweeping move, Bassogog’s final goal bound shot was well saved by the
goalkeeper.
Both teams were committed
to attack but with 20 minutes to go, and with my thoughts on extra time
looming, the match was turned on its head.
Ertac sent an innocuous pass to Radokovic to instigate a move out of
defence, but the normally reliable and consistent Radokovic slipped as he was
about to receive the ball. Muci
pounced on the ball and sent his shot in via the underside of the bar to give
the exposed Ertac no chance.
The goal seemed
to inspire Besiktas as they searched for the 2nd goal. And it almost
came 10 minutes later when Cenk’s goal bound shot was acrobatically saved by Ertac.
5 minutes later,
Atakan was lucky to only receive a yellow card and not RED for sticking his
head into Chamberlain’s face in a ‘handbag throwing moment’ between the two of
them.
6 minutes into
time added on and Man of the Match, Ertac, made another acrobatic save from a
shot heading for the top right.
Ankaragucu must
put this disappointment behind them now and focus on Sunday’s crucial ‘6
pointer’, in Hatay.
It is to be
hoped that Trabzon see off Fatih Karagumruk tonight in the other semi final and
keep the Cup out of Istanbul !!!
As always, keep
watching this space for the outcome of Sunday’s
MUST WIN match !
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
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