GENCLERBIRLIGI STARING RELEGATION IN THE FACE !!

 

 

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

 

Gencler was on the back foot during most of the match yesterday chasing the ball against a Basaksehir team determined to keep possession and deny Gencler any hope of scoring.     In that respect, Basak succeeded, but in so doing they made it one of the most boring matches I have ever watched.

 

GENCLERBIRLIGI         0               Istanbul Basaksehir           1

 

Team – Nordfeldt, Johanssen, Diego, Piris, Polomat, Soner, Furman, Candeias, Yildirim, Yilmaz and Lima

 

Substitutes – Ayite, Mugnil and Arda

 

The 1^st half was a .......... yawn ...... yawn.........affair  with the 1^st real action in the 45^th minute when from a Gencler corner Lima headed against the bar and the ball was cleared.    Basak ‘enjoyed’ 70% possession and had zero shots on target.     It was as if they were playing for one point  !!

 

It took Basak until 20 minutes into the 2^nd half to have a shot on target when they broke away and a goal bound shot was saved by Nordfeldt.    At this stage they were still playing ponderous football from touchline to touchline and back to their goalkeeper.    Keeping possession, but going nowhere   !!

 

The match suddenly exploded into life around the 75^th minute mark when numerous substitutions were made by both teams and they decided to go into all out attack mode.

 

DemBa had a great chance when from a cross from the right he hit it first time but Nordfeldt pulled off a great save to deny him.

 

Nearing the end of the match and Polomat received his 2^nd yellow when he pulled an attacker back whilst in full flow heading for the box.     Uncharacteristic from him, but at this stage in the season perhaps frustration kicks in   !!

 

With the match heading for a 0-0 stalemate, DemBa once again came to the rescue of Basak in the 89^th minute.    A shot from outside the box was well saved by Nordfeldt, but he spilled the save and DemBa was first to react and blasted the rebound into the net to secure an unlikely 3 points for Basak.

 

Gencler has now gone 11 matches without a win and the writing is on the wall that they must face the fact that they are staring relegation in the face.

 

As we know, there are no ‘easy’ matches in this league and next Sunday will be no exception as Gencler travel to Istanbul to face a Fenerbahce team currently challenging for top spot in the league.

 

Probably a damage limitation line-up for Gencler to try and ‘shut up shop’.      As always, watch this space for the outcome.

 

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim