The Lions — after losing 1-0 away to Manchester in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday in a match in which they totally outclassed and outplayed the host — needed victory at all costs on Sunday to regain morale.
Looking at the team roster before the match may have created doubts in the minds of some diehard Galatasaray fans. Coach Fatih Terim rested three regular starters — defenders Hakan Balta, Semih Kaya and striker Umut Bulut — and benched Sweden forward Johan Elmander and Morocco winger Nordin Amrabat.
And the coach, surprisingly though, included striker Sercan Yıldırım and former Spain international winger Albert Riera Ortega — who have not been fielded for ages — in the starting lineup. But it didn’t matter at all because the gap between wealthy Galatasaray and poor Akhisar Belediyespor, operating on a shoestring budget, is so wide that the Lions would still have won comfortably even if they had played with their B team.
And that’s exactly what Kasımpaşa coach Hamza Hamzaoğlu alluded to in his post-match news conference. “I don’t think we lost anything by losing to Galatasaray [because they are better than us]. But as long as we win the matches against teams of our caliber, there is not much to worry about,” he noted.
Akhisar Belediyespor put up a fight, but it soon ran out of steam as Galatasaray striker Burak Yılmaz opened the scoring in the 28th minute, hitting a rebound past hapless Akhisar keeper Oğuz Dağlaroğlu. Sercan doubled the score for the Lions in the 35th, when he tapped a Burak cross into a wide and empty net to give his team a 2-0 lead in the first half.
The Lions maintained their domination after the break, and Burak was again on target in the 58th to score his second goal and the third for Galatasaray. And the final score was Galatasaray 3, Akhisar Belediyespor 0.
“These kinds of matches are very tricky,” said Terim. “I am happy that we beat Akhisar Belediyespor after the Manchester toughie. Football is a serious matter, and I am also happy that my players took this match very seriously,” he added.
The Lions have tough clashes ahead. They face Hector Cuper’s undefeated Orduspor this weekend before hosting Braga in the UEFA Champions League next week.
(Today’s Zaman)
