Galatasaray, who are considered one of this year’s favorites to win the title, have started out awfully by losing their opening game. There wasn’t much scoring, but 2-0 is an absolute embarrassment for a side with Gala’s caliber.
The away side, Gala, started out much better by holding possession of the ball, good accurate passing, good runs being made, and decent looks on goal. At one point, they had 108 passes completed opposed to Istanbul’s 33. Possession is good, but scoring is what matters.
The first goal came all the way in the 42nd minute when keeper Fernando Muslera dropped a cross after landing awkwardly as the ball was then hit home by Istanbul captain Efe Inanc. Muslera won the COPA America with Uruguay mainly thanks to his heroic keeping. However, his one error turned out to be crucial as it led to the opening goal for the home side.
In the second half, Galatasaray’s pressure continued but even by inserting Sercan Yildirim and Engin Baytar, the lions could not find the equalizing goal. Unfortunately for them, Istanbul made matters worse in the 80th minute.
Istanbul crossed the ball from the left into the danger area where there was a swarm of Gala players and on striker for Istanbul, former Mallorca ace Pierre Webo. The Cameroonian international controlled the pass, with no pressure, at all, and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner past a helpless Muslera.
The first goal could easily be blamed on Muslera as he dropped a routine cross save but there was nothing he could do for the second goal as the Gala defense decided to ball watch instead of closing down Webo.
Along with Fenerbahce, Galatasaray are by far one of the favorites to win the title this season. However, after a dismal performance in the opener, they leave fans questioning their chances. The players they have added could easily play their part in Gala winning the title. Emmanual Eboue, Selcuk Inan, Johan Elmander, Milan Baros, and Felipe Melo could all step up their game and perform well for the lions.
One of the flops of the match for me was none other than Selcuk Inan. The 26 year old former Manisa and Trabzon midfielder could not send one decent pass to set up one of his team mates. Either Istanbul was perfectly organized, or Inan could not find his creativity that he normally has.
Las week for Turkey against Kazakhstan, Selcuk sent a gorgeous lobbed through ball to Burak Yilmaz who footed home from close range. Today, there was none of that vision from him. Wearing the number 8 shirt means that he needs to fill those shoes with pride and has to play a better game.
Arda Turan’s absence is sorely missed by Gala as he shone in games such as this one where the rest of the team draws a blank at what to do in order to score/win. For Turkey he proved to be a hero.
Last week in the 9th minute, game tied at 1, Arda Turan’s free kick was deflected in for the game winner. He also had the chance to win the game in Austria after his penalty kick was saved when his header unluckily smacked the near post then went out. Basically, he is a game winning player that could have easily provided magic against Istanbul.
On the bright side, this was only the first game of the season. Galatasaray added 5 new starts so they still need time to get used to one another. Next week, they will play their first home match against Samsunspor who won their opener 3-2 against Genclerbirligi.
With the support of their home fans in their beautiful new stadium, Galatasaray should go on to defeat Samsun by at least 2 goals. If that turns out to be wrong, then Gala are in trouble because their opponents were just promoted back to the Super League this season.
Regardless of today’s result, Galatasaray will play a good season and finish at least within the top 3. The championship is what they desire and require, but a top 3 finish will be much better than their 9th place end last term.
It was a rocky start, but will slowly but surely change into a smooth journey throughout the season.
World Football Daily
