ANKARAGUCU ......AND FALSE HOPE !!!

 

 

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

 

(Headline courtesy of Battle Damaged Kanka Damon).

 

We were all expectant of a repeat of last week’s performance, but unfortunately it didn’t materialise when Ankaragucu was brought back down to earth when they were comprehensively beaten by a hungrier and superior team, which doesn’t augur well for Ankaragucu’s future fixtures.

 

Remembering the ease in which Fiorintina brushed Sivas aside in midweek, I think we could  be forgiven for expecting Ankaragucu to brush Sivas aside and equal that result (or at least take the 3 points), but we never seem to learn the lesson that we take nothing for granted as far as Ankaragucu is concerned.

 

Sivasspor               2                     ANKARAGUCU           0

 

Team – Gokhan, Kitsiou, Radadovic, Atakan, Hasan Ali, Taylan, Diack, Zahid, Milson, Emre and Ali Sowe

 

Substitutes – Tasos Dokanovic, Tore, Bevic and Bahadir

 

It only took Sivas 7 minutes to make their intentions clear when they forced Gokhan and a defender to make a double save from 2 goal bound shots.

 

One minute later and Ali was celebrating scoring the opener but it was offside ................ but only just   !

 

22 minutes in and the opening goal came at the other end.      A fast break on the right and the cross came into the centre for the unmarked Cofie to bullet in a header inside the right post.

 

2 minutes later and it was almost the 2^nd goal when Gokhan made a poor clearance straight to a Sivas player whose cross into the centre to an unmarked attacker was deflected for a corner by Radakovic.

 

Ali almost found the equaliser when he was put through on the left    He rounded he goalkeeper and shot, but the angle was tight and he looked off balance as he shot.

 

Then on the half hour mark Sivas scored what would have been a contender for Goal of the Match when Saiz picked up the ball about 30 yards out in the centre, and with 3 Ankaragucu defenders not close enough to put in a tackle, he let fly and the ball whizzed inside the right post.     However, the celebrations were cut short when the referee was directed to the VAR and there was an offside in the build up   !

 

4 minutes later and Ankaragucu thought that they had found the equaliser, but again it was ruled out for offside........... but again, only just   !

 

The 2^nd half was only 10 minutes old when Gokhan had to be replaced by Bahadir.    It was unclear what the problem was, but Gokhan was holding his head and stomach.     Hopefully it isn’t serious   ?!

 

Half way through the 2^nd half and Ankaragucu was guilty of returning to the bad old days of passing back and sideways, running out of ideas and looking like they were settling for damage limitation   !!!

 

Sivas was awarded a free kick just outside the box in the centre which resulted in another double save by Bahadir and Diack from 2 goal bound shots.

  

Then with 15 minutes to go Sivas put the sword in and made the end result a formality.    Atakan was the culprit when his poor clearance went straight to a Sivas player, and when the ball was played into the box the shot was deflected by Atakan with his arm.   Penalty, and no question about it   !      Saiz sent his shot down the centre with Bahadir diving to his left.

 

Sivas was in total control from this point to the end with Ankaragucu looking like a well beaten team.

 

Despite the fact that Ankaragucu had 63% possession in the match, they could only muster one shot on target which speaks volumes about their failure to penetrate the Sivas defence.   I have to say that the Sivas players gave Ankaragucu no time on the ball and were chasing everything (even lost causes  !!).

 

I don’t like to criticise the New Coach, Sedat Bey, who is still no doubt feeling his way in, but I really must question his tactics last night.     If the team can’t match Sivas for skill and speed, then they must show more passion in the way that they did for Omer Erdogan when he was Coach    !!

 

There is a mountain looming in the next match away to Fenerbahce who are challenging Galatasaray at the top of the league.     The date has yet to be notified, and when it is, I will put it here in the comments section.

 

In the meantime, all eyes are on the other teams in the bottom half of the league in the hope that they lose points.    Ankaragucu can’t allow themselves to be cut adrift with 8 teams at the bottom only 6 points apart (excluding Hatay and Gaziantep who will not be relegated).

 

As always, keep watching this space.

 

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim