The European side of Istanbul celebrate

The Lions beat their bitter city rivals Fenerbahçe 2-1 in the first Intercontinental derby of the season; the fans put together another mind blowing choreography before kick off which showed Fenerbahçe's Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium on fire with a banner reading something along  the lines of 'everything can be forgettable except memories, every single memory reminds you of us!'

Terim adopted his usual 4-4-2 formation and this time as expected used his strongest line up since in the last game against 1461 Trabzon, the majority of the squad were rested for the derby.

The home side started brilliantly and went ahead early, Fenerbahçe defender Bekir İrtegün headed in Spaniard Albert Riera's cross in the tenth minute to give Galatasaray the lead.

However, thirteen minutes later the Sarı Kanaryalar (Yellow Canaries) equalised; an abysmal clearance by Reira allowed unlikely scorer Hasan Ali Kaldırım to beat Muslera from just outside of the penalty box.

Just before the end of the first half, skipper Selçuk İnan scored a magnificent free kick to give the Lions the lead and humiliate their rivals in style.

The second half was different than the first, and was definitely not as entertaining from a fan's perspective. Fener made some changes during the second half, however, their tactical changes had a minimal effect, also the sending off of former Chelsea player Raul Meireles didn't help the Sarı Kanaryalar.

Galatasaray also made changes, Kurtuluş came on for Bullut who didn't have one of his best games, both sides defended well and cancelled out each others attacking opportunities.

The Lions deservedly won the derby, making the better tactical options compared with their bitter rivals. The next time these two meet in the Süper Lig will be on the 11th May at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium. 

 GALATASARAY: Muslera, Eboue, Semih, Dany, Riera, Hamit, Selçuk, Melo, Amrabat, Umut (Yekta 75th minute), Burak   

The Lions crash out of the cup

Two weeks ago Galatasaray hosted 1461 Trabzon in a very empty Türk Telekom Arena ahead of their first domestic cup match of the season.

The Trabzon club went ahead in the thirty first minute, referee Ali Palabiyik awarded the visitors a penalty, Yusuf Erdoğan tumbled to the ground after Cris tried to win the ball off him. Looking at the replay it looks like Erdoğan had made a meal out of the challenge, with Cris making little contact with the 1461 player. 

Sercan Kaya stepped up to take the penalty and sent second choice Galatasaray keeper Ufuk Ceylan the wrong way to make it one nil to the lower league side.

By the seventieth minute, things went from bad to worse for the Istanbul club, Emrullah Kokoç's thunderous shot from about twenty yards out beat Ceylan to make it two nil to 1461.

Seven minutes later the Lions pulled one back, Emre Çolak scoring from close range; The lower league side kept out their Süper Lig opponents for the remaining minutes of the game to advance to the next stage of the cup.

It was probably one of the worst performances from a fan's point of view, however many of the first team squad were rested for the Istanbul derby. 

GALATASARAY: Ceylan, Cris, Sarıoğlu, Zan, Birinci, Altıntop (Amrabat 57th munte), Baytar, Gülselam (Kurtuluş 73rd minute) Çolak, Elmander, Yıldırım (A.Yılmaz 14th minute)

 

 

Galatasaray thump the Yiğidolar

Last Saturday Galatasaray travelled to the eastern-central city of Sivas and comfortably beat Sivasspor 3-1 at the Sivas 4 Eylül Stadium.

Umut Bulut scored in the first minute of the game and a goal which should be up there for goal of the season so far, the Turkish international scored from a difficult angle on the right hand side and was ferociously struck passed Canadian keeper Milan Borjan who stood no chance of stopping Bulut's shot.

The home side equalised in the eighteenth minute, Erman Kılıç drilling a low long range shot into the left hand corner of the goal.

The Lions went ahead once again, Amrabat delivered a through ball to in form striker Burak Yılmaz who run past the Sivasspor defense and put the ball past Milan Borjan to make 2-1 to the Istanbul side.

Eight minutes into the second half Bulut got his second goal of the game, Yekta tackled one of the  Sivasspor defenders and found Bulut unmarked who then comfortably slotted the ball passed Borjan for the second time.

The Lions remain top of the Turkish Süper Lig on twenty nine points, their bitter rivals Fenerbahçe are in second place on twenty seven points. The two sides face each other on Sunday at the Türk Telekom Arena.

Tonight, the Lions are up against TFF First League side 1461 Trabzon in the Turkish Cup at home.

GALATASARAY: Ufuk, Eboue, Semih, Dany, Hakan, Aydın (Emre 82nd minute), Selçuk, Yekta, Amrabat (Cris 89th minute), Burak, (Engin 69th minute), Umut

The Lions bite the Arsenalistas bullets

The Lions of Istanbul are through to the next round of the Champions League stage with a 2-1 win over Portuguese Primeira Liga side SC Braga at the Estádio Municipal de Braga.

The home side were definitely the better team in the first half, dominating from the start and took the lead in the thirty second minute of the game; Mossoró putting the Arsenalists in front from scoring from outside of the eighteen yard box.

Terim was obviously dissatisfied with his team in the first half and brought on Amrabat and Aydın Yılmaz and took off Elmander and Altintop. Terim also changed his favourable 4-4-2 formation for a 4-3-3 formation, Burak Yılmaz played alone upfront, whilst Çolak, Melo, and Selçuk played their roles in midfield, the two subs, Amrabat and Aydın Yılmaz played on the wings respectively.

Terim being the tactical genius that he is, started to see improvements in his team. Amrabat who had been positioned to play on the wing, crossed a lovely ball to Burak Yılmaz who powerfully headed the ball past Braga keeper Quim.

The Turkish side knew that if they matched CFR Cluj's result at Old Trafford that they would automatically qualify into the next round. Four minutes after equalising, the Lions could of gone 2-1 up, Melo found Eboué down the right flank, however the Ivorian defender fell over as he attempted to take a shot on goal.

Being aware that the Romanians were one nil up in Manchester, Galatasaray upped their game and went ahead with twelve minutes to go. Substitute Aydın Yılmaz tapped in the deflection from Melo's shot to put the Lions into the next phase of the Champions League.

In all honesty, Braga were the better team on the day, however, it was all down to Terim who revamped his team in the second half, adding Amrabat and Aydın Yılmaz on the wings definitely helped in the second half.

GALATASARAY: Muslera, Eboue, Semih, Dany, Riera, Emre Çolak (Umut 69th minute), Melo, Selçuk, Hamit, (Amrabat 46th minute), Elmander, (Aydın 46th minute), Burak

The Lions end in a stalemate with the Falcons

Last Friday Galatasaray played Gaziantepspor at home in week 14 of the Turkish Süper Lig and drew 1-1 with the Gaziantep side.

The Şahinler (Falcons) went ahead in the 68th minute, Bosnian midfielder Senijad Ibričić strike from outside of the eighteen yard box was drilled into the left hand corner of the goal to give the visitors the lead.

Soon after Galatasaray went close with Selçuk's freekick being denied by Gaziantepspor's keeper
Mahmut Bezgin.

The Lions finally scored in the 79th minute, Eboué crossed the ball to Yılmaz who powerfully headed the ball past Bezgin to make it 1-1.

Yılmaz has now entered Galatasaray's history books as he has now beaten club legend  Hakan Şükür's record for scoring six consecutive times at home.

Last week Melo was the hero of the match from taking Muslera's spot in goal after the Uruguayan got sent off and saving a last minute penalty, however this week the Brazilian was sent off in the eighty second minute for pulling down one of the Gaziantepspor players.

The Istanbul side remain top and are on level points with Antalyaspor, both sides sharing twenty six points respectively.

Tomorrow Galatasaray will travel to Portugal and play SC Braga in their remaining Group H Champions League group stage; Terim's men are one win away from progressing into the next stage of the competition.  Os Arsenalistas (The Arsenalists) are already eliminated from the competition and will rotate a few players, Douglão will miss the game due to a suspension.

In week 15 of the Süper Lig, Galatasaray face Sivasspor at the Sivas 4 Eylül Stadium on the 8th of December.

GALATASARAY: Muslera, Eboue, Semih Kaya, Dany, Riera, Hamit Altıntop (Emre Çolak 73rd minute), Selçuk İnan, Melo, Amrabat (Elmander 46th minute), Umut Bulut (Engin Baytar 46th minute), Burak Yılmaz