ANKARAGUCU – THE DRAW SPECIALISTS SHARE THE POINTS !!

 

 

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

 

As we are all well aware by now, it is not unusual for Ankaragucu to court controversy on a regular basis, and this season is no exception   !

 

You will have read from Nady’s recent post here that at the Rize match 2 weeks ago there was a flare-up at the end of the match when the referee was physically attacked by Club President Faruk Koca and others in his group.  

 

We are also aware of the fact that there is no love lost between The TFF and Ankaragucu and therefore a severe punishment was expected.   

 

Ankaragucu received a 5 match stadium ban and a fine of 2 million Turkish Lira.   However, the surprisingly good news was that there was no points deduction made.     So, I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies   !!

 

Turning to last night’s match at an empty Eryaman Stadium, and .........

 

ANKARAGUCU               0                        Hatay                 0

 

Team – Bahadir, Atakan, Radakovic, Mujakic, Alper, Ali Kaan, Pedrinho, Morutan, Efkan, Renaldo and Bajic

 

Substitutes – Hanousek, Macheda and Tasos

 

Ankaragucu started the match as if they would blow Hatay away, and almost received their just reward when Renaldo scored in the 9^th minute when the ball was deflected into his path.   However, after a VAR check it was ruled offside from the attack in the original build-up.

 

That setback didn’t seem to stop Ankaragucu when they were awarded a dubious penalty 5 minutes later when it was alleged that Morutan was tripped in the box as he was heading towards the goal line to deliver a cross.

 

Bajic stepped-up and sent a tame shot to the left which was easily saved by the goalkeeper.

 

Following this, Hatay gradually came into the match, but apart from Atakan’s goal bound header being saved, both goalkeepers were untroubled when the half time whistle was blown.

 

It was a different story in the 2^nd half when Ankaragucu had Man of the Match, Bahadir, to thank for winning a point in the end   !

 

For most of the 2^nd half Ankaragucu had difficulty stringing passes together, except in their own half, and were guilty of resorting to the old habit of hoofing the ball anywhere out of defence when they were in panic mode   !!!

 

8 minutes in and it was Radakovic to the rescue when he made a saving last gasp tackle to prevent a certain goal after a Hatay forward had waltzed through 4 attempted tackles   !

 

Bahadir then made 3 crucial excellent saves from goal bound efforts as Hatay searched for the opening goal which their 2^nd half display merited.

 

Ankaragucu’s only effort on goal was almost on the final whistle when Renaldo was put through in the box and the goal keeper made a good save for a corner.

 

This result leaves Ankaragucu still courting the relegation zone with only 4 points separating them from 4^th bottom Konya.

 

Yet another chance to move upwards when they travel to play 2^nd bottom of the league Pendikspor on Monday..........Oh yes, and thank you very much TFF for scheduling this match on Christmas Day   !!!

 

Your correspondents will be involved in family festivities and therefore unable to provide a match report.      However, I’ll post some sketchy details here the following day at some point   !!!

 

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim