Canaries eat Lions for dinner -- again

The last time the Galatasaray Lions won a league match in Kadıköy was on Dec. 22, 1999 when they beat the Canaries 2-1. Ever since, the Lions have been going to Şükrü Saracoğlu every blessed season, and they have been soundly beaten every time and sent home empty-handed. The situation did not change on Sunday night, when the Lions were again outplayed, outclassed and outscored 3-1 by the Canaries in their Turkish Super League week 10 encounter.

Going into this match, the Lions banked their hopes on their new Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard to exorcise the ghosts of Saracoğlu Stadium because he had done something similar before while coaching in Spain when he became the first Barcelona coach to win twice at rival Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

But this was a mere delusion -- to say the least -- because after Bünyamin Gezer blew the starting whistle on Sunday night, it became crystal clear the Canaries' domination over the Lions would continue into the foreseeable future.

The Canaries chased every ball and dominated play in midfield, virtually pinning the Lions to their own half. And to compound matters for the lethargic Lions, their Czech striker was stretchered off the pitch in the first minute after a rough tackle by Emre Belözoğlu -- a former Galatasaray player. Reports say he suffered a broken metatarsal in his right foot and will be sidelined for at least two months. And Shabani Christophe Nonda, who came in as a replacement for Milan Baros, was very ineffective.

The Fener Canaries continued pressing and were rewarded in the 12th minute, when captain-playmaker Alex De Souza tapped in a Gökçek Wederson cross from the left flank to put the Canaries up 1-0. Their confidence boosted by the opening goal, the Canaries pushed forward for a second but poor finishing by their attacking force -- striker Kazım Kazım in particular, deprived them of another goal in the first half.

The second half was a carbon copy of the first, with the Canaries attacking en masse and the Lions roaming aimlessly like pawns of fate. The Canaries got the second goal from a penalty kick after Alex was brought down by Galatasaray keeper Leo Franco. Alex took the resultant spot kick himself, and the diminutive Brazilian made no mistake in putting the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

The Lions sort of awoke from their trance after going 2-0 and pulled one back in the 56th through left-back Hakan Balta during a goalmouth scramble. The real turning point was in the 74th minute, when Ivory Coast striker Abdul Kader Keita was sent off for punching legendary Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos in the face.

Güiza puts final nail in Lions’ coffin

Playing with a one man advantage, the Canaries upped the tempo, and late substitute Dani Güiza scored in the second minute of added time (92nd) to seal the score and give the Canaries their 10th league victory in as many seasons over their archrivals at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

“I am very happy with the play,” Fener coach Christoph Daum said after the match. “And I thank Alex in particular,” he added. It is worth noting that Alex, sidelined in the last two games, defied injury to play on Sunday. “It was a tactical game, and we played with the utmost discipline and also reined in our opponents and got the desired result,” he further stated.

For his part, Rijkaard said: “We lost because we did not start well and were tense at the beginning. The opponent scored and after that we took over the initiative. And after making the score 2-1, there was a glimmer of hope. But the dismissal of Keita ruined everything. We had talked about how to control tempers because it is difficult to win with 10 men in matches like this, and I am disappointed that this advice was not heeded,” he added.

The defeat means Rijkaard has now become a real Lion because you can’t call yourself a Galatasaray coach if you have not suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Fener Canaries at Şükrü Saracoğlu.

The “mother of all derbies” at Kadıköy on Sunday night lived up to its name. There was shoving and pushing among the players during the pre-match warm-up; the foot of a Galatasaray player was broken; Keita was hit in the face by an object; a vicious right hook landed on the face of Roberto Carlos; there were provocations of all sorts from the players of both sides during play; Fener fans threw things onto the pitch; and history repeated itself with the Canaries eating the Lions for dinner once again.

First victory for Ertuğral 

Sivasspor, popularly known as the Yiğidolar (Brave Men), got its first victory under new coach Muhsin Ertuğral, with a resounding 3-0 win over Gaziantepspor on Sunday. Midfielder Musa Aydın scored in the 48th minute followed by a goal from Cıhan Yılmaz in the 54th. Yılmaz then put the game beyond reach with a beautiful goal in the second minute of added time.

In other Super League games it was: Kasımpaşa 3, Denizlispor 1; Manisaspor 1, Antalyaspor 2; Diyarbakırspor 1, Gençlerbirliği 0.