Greetings Kankas
and Kankies.
There can be no
doubt that Galatasaray deserved to win the match last night, but in all
fairness to the Ankaragucu players, they never gave up trying against the new
League Champions.
The fact remains
that the best team won and I’m sure that most of us who saw the match will
accept that, albeit reluctantly !
However, more
important matters are at hand, ie, Ankaragucu’s attempt to confirm escaping
relegation and that is still a real possibility, although not a certainty !
Lots of
variables are in play with two matches left to play this season, eg ......
Ankaragucu – 39 points
Antalya – 38 points
Istanbulspor –
35 points
Giresun - 34 points
Umraniye – 30 points
However, the bottom
line is that Ankaragucu require one more point from their last 2 matches to breathe
a sigh of relief. One further
important point is that Ankaragucu has a superior goal difference compared to
Giresun and Istanbulspor !!
Anyway, back to
last night ...............
ANKARAGUCU 1 Galatasaray 4
Team – Gokhan,
Andrej, Mujakic, Arda, Kevin, Diack, Taylan, Hasan Ali, Zahid, Milson and Ali
Sowe
Substitutes –
Emre, Kitsiou, Matej, Beridze and Atakan
Those of you who
know me are well aware that it doesn’t come easy for me to praise Istanbul
teams, but Galatasaray started on the front foot last night and attacked
Ankaragucu relentlessly from the off.
Also they attacked Ankaragucu players in possession like wolves, their
passing was crisp and accurate and they generally looked the fittest and most
dangerous team going forward.
It was all
Galatasaray in the opening minutes and they went ahead after only 6 minutes
when the dangerous Icardi ghosted in ahead of a defender to head in.
Ankaragucu’s
response was to continue to attempt attacks on the Galatasaray goal and Zahil
almost equalised in the 14th minute, but his goal bound shot was
well saved.
However, the
equaliser did arrive one minute later after a passing move on the right. Taylan threaded a perfect pass on the
right to the overlapping Milson who shot inside the near post.
A timely equaliser,
but Galatasaray continued to attack and looked the likelier team to add to
their score, and Gokhan saved 2 goal bound shots as half time approached. Then Galatasaray made the crucial
breakthrough, and again it was Icardi who did the damage. A cross from the left to the near post and
it was Icardi who reacted first to head inside the near post.
Ankaragucu
almost grabbed another equaliser on the half time whistle when Zahid’s shot hit
the bar and was cleared.
Into the 2nd
half and Galatasaray ramped up the pressure as they searched for the 3rd
goal to kill the match off and it almost arrived 10 minutes in after an
abomination in the Ankaragucu defence.
A poor back pass to Gokhan by a defender was latched onto by a
Galatasaray attacker, but the angle of his goal attempt was too acute and the
ball drifted harmlessly across the area with no takers.
2 minutes later
and it Gokhan to the rescue again with a save from another goal bound shot.
However, the 3rd
goal eventually came in the 72nd minute after a very fast breakaway
out of the Galatasaray defence.
Yilmaz sprinted ahead of the back-peddling Ankaragucu defenders, rounded
Gokhan and shot into the empty net.
5 minutes later
and Galatasaray put the match to bed when a corner on the right was sent to the
far post and the unmarked Oliveira headed in for the 4th goal.
The Ankaragucu
players heads didn’t go down as they searched for a 2nd goal to put
some respectability on the score line, but it was not to be and Ankaragucu must
re-group and prepare for their crucial last 2 matches.
First up is a
trip to mid-table Kayseri on Saturday, and as I said earlier, they must take at
least one point from this match to take the pressure off their final match at
home to Adana Demirspor.
The motivation
of securing another season in the Super League should be enough for the players
to respond and also give us long suffering supporters a happy stress free
summer break !!
As always, watch
this space for the outcome.
All the best
from Eski Kanka Jim
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