Ankaragücü put in a brave performance against champions Galatasaray but it wasn’t enough as they lost 3-1 in front of a crowd of 20,000 for the 2018/19 Turkish Super Lig season opener. Usually defeat against an Istanbul club is met with jeers and anger from the Ankaragücü support, but tonight they applauded the team off the pitch and showed their appreciation for the effort and commitment for the players.
Team - Hopf, Erdem, Yalcin, Kone, Tiago, Arif, Faty, Ilhan, Bifouma, Mokhtar, El Kabir
Subs - Korcan, Altay, Mehmet, Lukasz, Kenan, Mahmut, Nduka, Kehinde, Kaan
Only Ilhan, Erdem and Arif started the game from last seasons team with 8 new players making their debut. For Galatasaray Bafetimbi Gomes was dropped to the bench for Eren Derdeyok.
The Ankaragücü fans turned up in their numbers and the game was sold out. As usual they created an unbelievable atmosphere that will play a big part in the fight against relegation this season for Ankaragucu.
The first chance of the game came for Galatasaray from a free kick. Eren Derdeyok stepped up from about 25 yards and blasted the ball well over.
Moestafa El Kabir took some stick when he signed for Ankaragücü due to being well over weight and out of shape. He has since then worked very hard in training and lost some of that weight as he looks close to the weight required for a footballer. He shut those critics up today with a fantastic performance and gave Ankaragücü the lead after 7 minutes. Youness Mokhtar beat his man before playing a pin point pass to El Kabir who brilliantly finished past Muslera to send the Ankaragücü fans wild.
Seven minutes later Galatasaray almost equalised. A brilliant free kick from Maicon went into the side netting from 30 yards.
Galatasaray were starting to work their way into the match and Serdar almost got the equaliser but Pinto blocked the ball for a corner. From the resulting corner Maicon nodded the ball on for Serdar who was unmarked at the back post and headed the ball past Hopf to make it 1-1.
Ricardo Faty was the best player on the park and showed what an important player he is going to be, but he almost gifted Galatasaray a goal until Kone and Yalcin managed to clear the ball. A minute later Rodrigues curled a shot from the edge of the area just over the bar.
On the 30th minute Bakary Kone scored one of the best own goals you will see. A cross into the box was met with the diving header from Kone and the ball went into the top corner to make it 1-2.
Ankaragücü were struggling at this point to contain Galatasaray and Henry Onyerku went past his man in the box before shooting into the side netting.
Ankaragücü then had the ball in the back of the net a minute later with a carbon copy of their first goal. Another through ball for El Kabir who finished into the top corner but the goal was ruled out for offside by the first ever VAR decision in Turkish football.
Half Time
The second half was a much better performance from the Ankaragücü defence as they managed to contain Galatasaray. Thievy Bifouma almost had an opportunity to put the ball into an empty net but Muslera came out of his box to clear the ball from danger.
On the 63rd minute Bifouma and Mokhtar set up El Kabir who shot wide of the post as Ankaragücü took control of the match. Ankaragücü continued to go forward without much end product. On the 86th minute a brilliant ball into the box for El Kabir who was unmarked but headed the ball horribly wide. What a chance it was.
That chance would come back to haunt El Kabir as five minutes later Galatasaray went on the attack, Belhanda played the ball througn for Eren who calmly finished past Hopf to make it 1-3.
Ankaragücü will be disappointed they came away from the match with no points but they can be proud of their performance. There are a lot of positives with the front 3 of Mokhtar, El Kabir and Bifouma having the quality to cause teams problems. Ricardo Faty also looks an excellent signing.
İsmail Kartal will need to look at bringing in another 3-4 players. Ilhan isn’t good enough to start a team this level. The reason he is in the team is because he covers the most distance but his quality on the ball isn’t good enough. Putsila is missed but we need another midfielder, a striker, centre half and wide player as back up. The bench lacks any quality and must be strengthened.
Next up is an away trip to Alanyaspor next week!
Great report Nadeem.
ReplyDeleteYes, disappointing that Ankaragucu didn’t manage to equalise and win a point. However, perhaps tired legs was the problem in the end which allowed Galatasaray to score the 3rd goal. No doubt Ismail Bey will be working on improving fitness levels this week before the next match next Sunday.
You are absolutely right about the defence Nadeem. We urgently need a strong central defender who can act as ‘the general’ in the back 4 and can encourage sensible ball distribution out of defence. Too often last night Ankaragucu resorted to that bad habit of yesteryear of hoofing the ball out of defence straight to the opposition.
There will be no easy matches this season, but Ankaragucu should come away from Alanya next week with at least a point !
Bring it on !
Nady thanks for the great report. I totally agree with you about Faty. Saturday day night he was absolutely the best player and a significant gain for AG. I also have to add that Arif, İlhan and Kehinde is not in super lig level and should urgently be replaced with better qualities. This week Alanya match is so critical and at least 1 point should be taken to keep the morals up. Volkan.
ReplyDeleteThanks Guys
ReplyDeleteWe must strengthen the middle of the park, i think Arif actually played well but i dont want him starting games.
Only a couple of weeks left until the transfer window shuts
Forgot to mention that prior to KO, Kloggy Kanka, Carlo, predicted that Ankaragucu would score in the 4th minute ! I look forward to his prediction for this Sunday's match !!!
ReplyDelete