Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
A fortuitous,
but crucial 3 points won by Ankaragucu today, but they rode their luck,
especially in the 1st half when it was Antalya who created all of
the few chances on offer.
Ankaragucu had
to wait until the 70th minute of the match to have their first shot
on target !!!
In hindsight,
Antalya have only themselves to blame for losing after playing the boring game
of pass-back to the goalkeeper for long periods, which probably accounted for
their 60% possession. Also, their shooting
in good positions was wayward which probably gave Ankaragucu some measure of
encouragement as the match progressed in the 2nd half.
ANKARAGUCU 1 Antalyaspor 0
Team – Korcan,
Kitsiou, Kulusic, Pazdan, Pinto, Ibrahim, Alper, Endri, Saba, Geraldo and
Borven
Substitutes –
Paintsil, Badji and Voca
It took until
the 14th minute of the match for the first real action when Pinto
cleared a dangerous attack.
9 minutes later
and Antalya had another chance when a cross came in from the right, but the
Antalya attacker had a downward header which Korcan easily saved.
5 minutes later
and it was Pazdan to the rescue when he broke up an Antalya attack and cleared
the danger when the attacker was about to shoot.
Ankaragucu had
their first chance 5 minutes later when they were awarded a free kick just
outside the box, but Alper sent his shot around the wall and just past the
post.
5 minutes later
and Podolski almost scored for Antalya, but his goal bound shot was deflected
for a corner. Then 2 minutes later an
Antalya attacker was well placed to score and scuffed his shot past.
In the last
action of the 1st half Saba missed a great chance to score when he
received a pass from the left inside the 6 yard box, but he tried to control
the ball instead of connecting first time and the ball was cleared.
So, Ankaragucu
was perhaps fortunate to go in at half time all square, thanks to the efforts
of the defence and some slow and sloppy play from Antalya.
On the resumption,
Antalya had two good chances to open the scoring. Firstly, an attacker missed an open goal
after a quick breakaway when he sent his shot high and wide. Then, Korcan saved a shot in the 6 yard box.
It took until
the 70th minute for Ankaragucu to have their first shot on target
and it was almost the opening goal.
From a free kick just outside the box, Endri’s shot was going in just
under the bar but the goalkeeper made a great save to tip the ball over.
12 minutes later
and the break through ! Pazdan set the move up on the half way
line with a pass to the left. The cross
came in and Borven ghosted in between 2 defenders to bullet a header in with
the goalkeeper helpless. A fantastic
striker’s goal !!!
There was just
time for one more Ankaragucu goal attempt when Paintsil was put through on
goal. He saw the goalkeeper well off
his line and tried to take advantage, but although the idea was excellent, the
shot was weak and the goalkeeper was able to collect.
So, an excellent
end result which takes Ankaragucu out of the relegation zone, but it is still
very tight down there with teams scrapping for points.
Yet another
crucial match coming up on Wednesday when Ankaragucu travel to Konya. There is no love lost between those 2
teams so we can expect a very close match, but with Hikmet Bey’s tactical
genius there is every hope that Ankaragucu can bring at least one point back to
Ankara.
It is quite
obvious that Ankaragucu is not for quitting.
So, as always, watch this space for the outcome.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
Another great result under Hikmet Karaman. What a job he is doing.
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