Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
Seemingly dead
and buried going into time added on at the end of the match last night,
Ankaragucu deservedly conjured up a piece of magic between Ali and Milson to
share the spoils.
The Ankaragucu
players gave everything, but I have to say that Antalya is a very fit team and
their defence played well, especially my Man of the Match, the Antalya
goalkeeper, Helton Leite, who thwarted Ankaragucu time after time throughout
the match.
ANKARAGUCU 1 Antalyaspor 1
Team – Gokhan,
Arda, Atakan, Mujakic, Kevin, Andrej, Taylan, Matej, Emre, Zahid and Ali Sowe
Substitutes –
Firatcan, Berizde, Milson Pedrinho and Oko
Antalya made it
quite clear from the outset that they didn’t come to Ankara to make up the
numbers and they almost went ahead after 10 minutes when a goal bound shot was
heading inside the left post, but Gokhan was equal to it and made a great save.
One minute later
at the other end and Ali had a great chance when he outpaced the defenders, but
his shot went just past the right post.
Then approaching
the half hour mark and that man Ali was back helping his defenders and headed a
goal bound shot off the line on the left with Gokhan stranded on the right.
So, a fairly
even 1st half with both teams having chances, and both goalkeepers
in top form.
Into the 2nd
half and in the 66th minute Leite made a double fantastic save to
prevent Berizde and Firatcan putting Ankaragucu ahead.
2 minutes later
and it was Antalya who opened the scoring when Leite made a quick throw-out to
set-up a fast break. The cross came in
from the right, and with the Ankaragucu defence caught out of position, Vural
shot in for an easy goal.
Heads didn’t go
down as Ankaragucu laid siege to the Antalya goal and with only 5 minutes left
Kevin had a great chance, but his shot was just past the left post.
Into time added
on and Ankaragucu’s persistent attacking finally paid off after a great cross
into the box from the left to Ali who’s shot was parried, but Milson was in the
right place at the right time to flick the ball in with Leite unable to recover
the situation. Just reward for
Ankaragucu’s never-say-die attitude !!
So, all things
considered, and to be honest, it was probably a fair result on the balance of
play, and as I said earlier, the match might have had a different outcome if
Leite hadn’t been in such inspired form
!!
With 4 matches
to go until the end of the season Ankaragucu is still involved in the
relegation struggle along with Umraniye, Giresun and Istanbul in particular,
and Ankaragucu’s ‘Cup Final’ takes place on Sunday when they travel to Umraniye
for what will be a huge ‘6 Pointer’ !!
It is fairly and
squarely in Ankaragucu’s own hands now in the final stages of the run-in and
Sunday most definitely falls into the category of MUST WIN match !!
As always, watch
this space for the outcome.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
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