Back on the winning path- Galatasaray 2-0 Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyespor

By: Musab | November 16th, 2008

After the defeat last week at Kadikoy, we needed a good result to get back into shape for the title. The midweek victory against Kayserispor in the Turkish Cup did little to stoke confidence in anyone, adding to the importance of this match.

The Good Guys: 2 İBB: 0

Stadium: Ali Sami Yen
Referees: Selçuk Dereli, Cemal Bingül, Alper Ulusoy
GALATASARAY: De Sanctis, Sabri, Emre Aşık, Servet, Hakan Balta, Kewell (Aydın min. 68), Meira, Ayhan, Arda (Mehmet Topal min. 78), Lincoln, Milan Baros (Ümit Karan min. 74)
Subs: Aykut, Nonda, Volkan, Mehmet Güven
Manager: Michael Skibbe

İSTANBUL BÜYÜKŞEHİR BELEDİYESPOR: Behram, Marcin Kus, Mahmut, Cesario, Erman, Okan (Adriano min. 73), Tjikuzu, Serhat, Ekrem, Efe (Uğur min. 59), Bebbe
Subs: Mehmet Ali, Metin, İlyas, Rızvan, Gökhan Süzen
Manager: Abdullah Avcı
Goals: Kewell (min. 39), Lincoln (min. 83)
Yellow Cards: Milan Baros (Galatasaray), Marcin Kus, Mahmut, Bebbe (İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor)

The match wasn’t all that impressive. IBB was a pathetic excuse for a team and thus Galatasaray was able to easily dispatch them after a great header from Kewell and a touch of class from Lincoln. Lincoln’s form has been on the rise lately with great performances both domestically and in Europe. It’s taken some time but I really believe Lincoln is slowly reaching his true potential. IBB never really seemed like a threat and the Galatasaray players understood and played accordingly.

There were a couple of bright spots in the match that are worth mentioning. In the first half, the players never panicked when the they couldn’t find the goal. They took their time, played their football, and knew that in time they would find the goal they rightfully deserved. After finding the goal they consolidated their position and showed IBB that they would never find a goal against this team. Case in point, Galatasaray did every thing they had to to ensure all three points. Nothing extra, nothing less. Something Skibbe has realized as of late. Quite frankly I’d prefer that over needless risks.

Another good sign that the team showed was the ability of the players to continue fighting for the match for the entire 90 minutes. In past games we saw many players giving up after a good 75, 80 minutes. However today the team went for 90 minutes, and after scoring in the 83. minute, went on to take all three points. More credit to Skibbe for his managing abilities.

However there was a bit of bad news from the match. In the second half, golden boy Arda asked to be subbed after his heart starting beating really fast and felt uncomfortable. He was removed from the game and was immediatly taken to hospital where he was treated and taken care of. He’s well now but there will be more news on his condition soon.

So far a third of the season has passed with us 6 points away from the leaders, Trabzonspor and with three teams ahead of us with 22, 22, and 21 points respectively. We can reach second or third place soon with the Fener-Besiktas derby coming up in two weeks time. This game is extremely crucial to our title hopes.