Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
(Headline
suggested by Battle Damaged Kanka Damon .....and so appropriate !!)
Ankaragucu
progressed into the Quarter Finals of The Turkish Cup last night when they gave
a disciplined and professional performance, and were more than a match for
pre-match favourites, Besiktas. More
performances like this and Ankaragucu will be saying goodbye to the lower
reaches of the Super League !
With the match
heading into Extra Time, Ankaragucu could have been excused for flagging, but
amazingly they kept searching for the winning goal.
Then it was into
the dreaded penalties pantomime and the tension was clear to see on the faces
of the players and Coaches. Ankaragucu
kept their nerve and all four penalties were despatched with precision, while
Gokhan put up the shutters to deny Besiktas and send all of us long suffering
Ankaragucu fans into raptures.
Without
resorting to Google, it has been many years since Ankaragucu reached this stage
of The Turkish Cup and they need fear no team when the draw is made for the
Quarter Finals !!
ANKARAGUCU 1 Besiktas 1
(After Extra
Time)
Ankaragucu win
4-3 on penalties
Team – Gokhan,
Kevin, Atakan, Radakovic, Marlon, Tolga, Diack, Zahid, Emre, Tasos and Ali Sowe
Substitutes –
Giorgi, Pedrinho, Firatcan and Yasin
Omer Bey started
with an attacking formation and that’s exactly how Ankaragucu approached the
match.
However, they
were almost caught-out in the first minute of the match when a weak back-header
presented a chance for Besiktas, but Gokhan was a split-second ahead of the attacker
and cleared the danger.
2 minutes later
and Ankaragucu had the ball in the net, but the Linesman’s flag was up for
offside which was the correct decision.
10 minutes later
Ankaragucu made no mistake with a superb constructed goal when Tasos crossed
from the left to Emre on the right.
Emre’s measured side-footed pass was straight to Ali in the centre and
he stroked the ball in for the opening goal.
It was mostly
all Ankaragucu until the half time whistle and they really should have put the
match to bed.
Emre almost
scored the 2nd on the 20th minute mark when his goal
bound shot from the right was heading inside the left post, but it was well
saved for a corner.
10 minutes later
and another chance was passed-up when Emre with some fine footwork sent in an
inviting cross to Ali in the 6 yard box, but amazingly he blasted the ball over
the bar.
A few minutes
later and another chance was spurned after great work by Kevin on the
right. He crossed for Tasos on the
left, but the ball took a slight deflection off a defender and Tasos miscued
the ball and it went out of play.
On the balance
of play in the 2nd half it is probably true to say that Besiktas
deserved their equaliser, and Gokhan no doubt deserved my Man of the Match
award !!
However,
Ankaragucu had another chance to grab the 2nd goal a few minutes
into the 2nd half when Atakan sent his header just past the top
right.
15 minutes later
and Atakan was floored by a hand or arm by a Besiktas player after the ball had
moved on. The referee pulled out the
RED card immediately but after strong protests by the Besiktas players, he
consulted the VAR, returned to the field of play and cancelled the RED and
produced a Yellow. I’m not 100% sure
of exactly what happened at the incident, but it does seem to me that the
referee may have been put under pressure to rescind the RED card. There is sure to be divided opinion on
this incident !!!
Approaching the
half way stage of the 2nd half and Gokhan made a crucial save from a
goal bound shot. But ............ 5
minutes later and the equaliser, and unfortunately Cenk was not picked-up as he
drifted into the far post area. The free
kick from the right was only parried by Gokhan and Cenk was on hand to score an
easy goal.
Some teams would
have succumbed to Besiktas pressure at this point, but Ankaragucu continued to
defend stoutly and attack when possible.
It is quite obvious that Omer Bey has the Ankaragucu players fighting
for the badge on their shirts !!!
With 10 minutes
to go another weak back-pass by an Ankaragucu defender almost gifted Besiktas
the winning goal, but Gokhan came to the rescue and cleared the danger.
Extra time was
played with both teams obvious to the danger of conceding. Gokhan made another save from a header
going inside the right post, and then Firatcan made a goal line clearance
sending the ball over the bar for a corner.
End of the match
and into Penalties to decide the winner
!!
All 4 of
Ankaragucu’s penalty takers (Tolga, Ali, Marlon and Pedrinho) kept their nerve
and sent 4 excellent penalties in.
Gokhan saved
Besiktas’s 2nd penalty which had to be retaken when the Linesman
indicated that Gokhan had strayed off his line. Amazingly, he also saved the 2nd
attempt !! Then when Gokhan saved the 5th
penalty it was all over !!!
We were all
leaping around The Bira Park Bar high fiving and singing. Also, the fans in the Stadium were going
mental !!!
A great night to
be an Ankaragucu Supporter. !!!
Onwards and
upwards, and Ankaragucu travel to Konya on Monday on Super League business.
As always, watch
this space for the outcome.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
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