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Fener ‘breaks devil’s leg’ by nipping Antalyaspor
The Canaries did exactly that on Sunday night, beating visiting Antalyaspor 1-0 in their week 24 action at the Fenerbahçe Sükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium. The victory by the slightest of margins, coming from a goal by Brazil left back Andre Clarindo dos Santos in the 33rd minute, was enough to save the Fener Yellow Canaries from another week of merciless media bashing. Yet it was not enough to conceal the flaws and weaknesses of the team.
“There was incredible pressure on the team before the match [on Sunday],” Fenerbahçe’s German coach Christoph Daum said after the game. “To be frank and candid, coming out for this match wasn’t easy. But we played well, kept our concentration intact and had a good result,” he further noted.
That, however, is Herr Daum’s version of the story.
What we saw was that with captain-playmaker Alex de Souza suspended, the Canaries at times looked disorganized in midfield, which was often devoid of creativity. Gökhan Gönül, Diego Lugano and Cristian Baroni -- who were doubtful for this match because of various injuries -- made the starting XI, but even their presence was not enough to completely fill the void created by the absence of Alex.
And the general consensus was that the Canaries won not through their own merit but because of the horrendous play of the uncourageous Antalyaspor Scorpions.
Had Antalya striker Veysel Cihan scored seven minutes from time, in the 83rd to be more precise, when the erratic striker shot wide from close range, the match most probably would have ended in a draw, and we would have been talking about something else at the moment.
Daum the gambler
Daum gambled, and it worked. The German benched prolific midfielder Mehmet Topuz, acquired from Kayserispor this season, and started with injury-prone Deivid de Souza, who earned inclusion in the Fenerbahçe starting lineup for the first time this season.
Had the Canaries lost, Daum could have faced criticism of unprecedented dimensions over his team selection. Simply put, there would have been many naysayers calling for his scalp. But the end justifies the means in the beautiful game. You win, and all your soccer sins are automatically forgiven.
“I really want to thank our fans for the support they gave not only to [striker Dani Gonzalez] Güiza, but to the entire team. Güiza cannot score, but he runs a lot and puts up a good fight upfront. What is happening to Güiza happens to every striker, so I am very pleased with Güiza’s performance,” he added.
For his part, Antalyaspor coach Şifo Mehmet said his team played well despite the defeat. “For eight weeks running, we have been playing against very tough adversaries,” he stated. “We have played against Trabzonspor, Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and only Galatasaray is left,” he stated.
“The game against Fenerbahçe was evenly matched. And as we began to take full control, we conceded a goal. But we did not give up the fight and kept up the pressure until the very end. We did not win, so we have to put this match behind us and focus all our attention on the upcoming game against Sivasspor,” he added.
The Scorpions were stung, but the Canaries survived to fight another week. The Fenerbahçe Canaries therefore have “broken the devil’s leg” (a Turkish expression meaning “to break a jinx”), but they still have many more devils’ legs to break both in the league and in the Ziraat Turkish Cup.
The two other matches -- Ankaragücü-Gaziantepspor and Manisaspor-Denizlispor -- on Sunday produced no goals and ended exactly the way they started.
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