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Galatasaray falters again, Black Sea Storm surges on
Defeated by Bursaspor on Saturday when an end was put to the leader’s unbeaten streak of 13 games, the leader was seeking to return to its old form in front of the home crowd in İstanbul. Under heavy snowfall, Galatasaray, popularly known as the Lions, could not deliver a victory to ardent fans, numbered between 7,000 and 8,000 due to harsh the weather conditions that have hit İstanbul. The draw against Antalyaspor marks a loss of seven points for Galatasaray in the last four games in the league.
Nineteen-year-old forward Emrah Başsan gave Antalyaspor a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. Galatasaray’s equalizer came from Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo in the 35th minute with a penalty.
Galatasaray was missing defensive midfielder Emmanuel Eboue, who is with his national team for the African Cup of Nations, as Czech forward Milan Baros, who has just recovered from an injury, made a debut appearance on the pitch after a weeks-long absence in the 57th minute. Yet formerly on-form duo Johan Elmander and Baros could not pass the impenetrable Antalyaspor defense in the second half when Galatasaray missed glaring chances to win. A clearly observed tension took hold of the İstanbul side as injury-prone Baros was shown a red card, leaving his team one man down, due to his insistent appeal to the referee’s decisions in the 72nd minute. Elmander’s head shot bounced back from the goalpost in the 74th minute.
Baros disappointed his team as he was only on the pitch for 15 minutes to the red card. The card, which left Galatasaray with 10 men in the minutes when the İstanbul side was trying hard to get to Antalyaspor’s goalposts to score their way to victory, was also the breaking point for Galatasaray. After the red card, Antalyaspor dominated the game, especially in midfield, and played defensively to clinch one point against the leader.
Galatasaray gave Fenerbahçe the chance to catch it with the draw as Fenerbahçe is now three points behind Galatasaray and the points will be equal if Fenerbahçe wins Week 24 game against Samsunspor.
Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim said at a post-game press conference that the 1-1 draw is good considering that his team had to play with 10 men. Admitting that he did not expect to lose points in the match, Terim said: “If we had been 11 men at the end of the match, we could have been upset and angry, but 1-1 is a good score if you finish the game with only 10 men. If Antalyaspor had pushed harder, they could have beaten us by scoring a second goal.”
Speaking about Baros’ behavior, Terim said such a qualified player as Baros should not have received a red card. “It is not right for him to leave his team because he objected to the referee,” he said, noting that he was in the wrong as well, as he had not managed to establish discipline in the team, even though he is known for disciplining the teams he coaches. He added that his team felt the absence of Eboue in the right winger position.
Medical Park Antalyaspor coach Mehmet Özdilek said his team is content with winning one point against the leader, but that his team could have won had they passed the ball better in the second half.
Elsewhere Trabzonspor continued chasing the top three with a 2-1 victory over Bursaspor at Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium in Trabzon. Defender Giray Kaçar scored both goals for Trabzonspor in the 30th and 66th minutes on Wednesday night, while on-form striker Burak Yılmaz remained silent. The Trabzon team continued to hold the fourth playoff spot.
Other results of the games on Wednesday night were: Orduspor 2, MKE ANkaragücü 0 and Gençlerbirliği 1, Gaziantepspor 0.
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