Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
1-0 up at half
time with Antep looking like losers and then ......... the transformation !
10 minutes into
the 2nd half and Antep was down to 10 men and suddenly they were a
different team. Amazing turnaround !
Gencler is now
staring relegation in the face after 10 matches without a win !
Gaziantep 2 GENCLERBIRLIGI 1
Team –
Nordfeldt, Johanssen, Piris, Arda, Omurcan, Yildirim, Furman, Yilmaz, Soner,
Candeias and Sandro Lima
Substitutes –
Diego, Altiparmak and Ilker
It was pretty
much an end to end match, until the 18th minute when Gencler scored
the opening goal. There was a fast
break down the right with the Antep defence caught out. The ball was crossed into Lima in the
centre and his shot was parried by the goalkeeper and Lima was on hand to score
the rebound. The linesman’s flag went
up for offside from the original pass on the right. However, before play could resume, the
referee received a message in his earpiece and the offside was cancelled and
the goal given. Having seen the replay
of the VAR, it was an extremely tight decision with only centimetres in it !!
Gencler
continued to look the likelier team and 5 minutes later could have increased
their lead when there was another fast break on the right by Lima who crossed
for Furman to shoot just past the right post.
2 minutes later
and Yilmaz had a chance to score, but his goal bound shot was saved and
cleared.
Antep reminded
me of ‘the Ankaragucu Way’, ie, passing across the field in midfield and
passing direct to Gencler players. Even
with 68% possession in the 1st half they never seriously troubled
Nordfeldt.
The ‘game
changer’ came in the 57th minute when the VAR camera caught an
off-the-ball incident when Mirallas kicked a Gencler player from behind and the
referee received a message in his earpiece.
He checked the VAR himself and returned to the field to produce a RED
card for Mirallas.
Normally when
this happens, the team would retreat into defence until they had time to
adjust. However, it seemed to fire-up
Antep and 2 minutes later they were level.
It was a
terrible mistake by the normally reliable Arda when he sent a weak back-pass to
Nordfeldt which was immediately latched onto by Ozer who had the easiest of
tasks of picking his spot and leaving Nordfeldt helpless.
It was all 10
man Antep now as they searched for the winner and Gencler had Nordfeldt to
thank on several occasions with timely saves from the Antep forwards.
The winning goal
came as no surprise and a goal worthy of winning any match. A quick Antep break down the left and a
pin-point cross into the box from the goal-line for Jefferson to power in a
bullet of a header with Nordfeldt having no chance.
A truly
memorable come-back from Antep and Gencler must now be wondering where their
next point is coming from !!
Next up is a
home match against Basaksehir on Sunday.
Last year’s champions are also struggling and are dangerously close to
the relegation zone, so it will be another tense affair with both teams
desperate for points.
As always, watch
this space for the outcome.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
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