Greetings
Kankas and Kankies.
Last
night in the Semi Final of the Turkish Cup 1st Leg in Istanbul,
Ankaragucu scorned the opportunity to return to Ankara for the 2nd
Leg all square at 0-0. Despite
playing against 10 men for the 2nd half, Ankaragucu failed to
seriously trouble the goalkeeper, and after a lack of discipline by the defence
at the end of the match were made to pay the price !!
Realistically,
it was probably a big ask for Ankaragucu to claim a famous victory, but in all
probability the game plan was not to concede a goal, and it almost worked.
A
basic lack of concentration and discipline by the defence almost on the final
whistle enabled Basaksehir to make a fast break, and with Bahadir totally
exposed, Figueiredo had the simple task of ‘stealing’ a vital goal which gives
them a head start in the 2nd Leg in Ankara on 24 May.
Basaksehir 1 ANKARAGUCU 0
Team –
Bahadir, Kevin, Atakan, Mujakic, Kitsiou, Andrej, Pedrinho, Matej, Emre, Ali
Sowe and Milson
Substitutes
– Diack, Tasos, Taylan and Oko
The
warning signs from Basak came as early as the first minute when they scored a
goal, but it was correctly ruled out for offside.
It was
mostly one way traffic towards Bahadir in the 1st half with the
Ankaragucu defence working overtime and Bahadir saving goal bound attempts.
Then
just before half time in a rare Ankaragucu attack, Milson was brought down by
Touba as he was about to go one on one with the goalkeeper. The referee brought out the yellow card,
but was then directed to VAR and then produced the RED card.
I have
to say that the large Ankaragucu travelling support were in fine voice
throughout the match with high volume – it felt just like a HOME match !!!
I
should also mention the fact that Alexsik (who had received a yellow card
earlier in the match) was hooked in time added on in the 1st half,
probably as a ‘panic measure’ !!
I
would also like to praise the workrate of Ali who continuously tracked back
throughout the match to help his defence, especially in dead ball
situations !
Ankaragucu
had a couple of possible chances in the 2nd half, but only Oko’s
attempt is worth mentioning when his shot from the left of the box went just
past the right post with Ali unable to get a touch to it before the ball went
out of play.
Near
the end a 2nd RED card was shown to Basak when the Assistant Coach
obviously said something which shouldn’t have been uttered !!
The 1st Coach was already in the Directors Box serving a
touch line ban !!!
Then 4
minutes into time added on and ‘the sword was thrust’ into Ankaragucu after
their sterling efforts to deny Basak the crucial goal. Ankaragucu was obviously seeking to sneak
a winning goal and were flooding the Basak area in their search, but when the
ball was cleared from the Basak defence the fast attack was on. The ball was carried down the right wing
with the Ankaragucu defenders scurrying back in panic. The ball was crossed to the only Basak
attacker in the area with Atakan unable to cut it out, and it was so easy for
Figueiredo to score unopposed with 3 other Ankaragucu defenders unable to get
back quick enough to tackle him.
A
cruel blow, but, nevertheless, a classic goal for Coaches to use for
Development Teams on how to punish defences caught out of position !!!
No
prizes for guessing the tactics which will be necessary for Ankaragucu in the 2nd
Leg !!! Also, for those optimists in our ranks,
there is still hope that Ankaragucu can do the necessary and reach the Final.
As
always, keep watching this space !
All
the best from Eski Kanka Jim
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