By Richard Beale….
Esentepe Coach Kiliç Ali Kahraman won’t agree with me as he always wants more from his team, but the performance that his side put in against Yalova was to me “perfect, I could find no fault with it.”
Result : ESENTEPE KKSK 2 YALOVA SK 0
Saturday July 4, 2020: K-Pet League 1 : Esentepe Erdal Barut Stadium.
Saturday’s crucial match was deservedly and clinically won by Esentepe who controlled the match from start to finish. Make no mistake about it Yalova, who are in 4th place, are a very good team, having the right mix of powerful and skilful players but they were made to look ordinary by a hungry Esentepe team that did not allow them to settle. Esentepe harried, chased, closed down their opponents in what was one of their best performances of this long strange season. Three vital points means Esentepe in 8th place have moved further away from being dragged into a relegation playoff spot, indeed they have given themselves an outside chance of challenging for a promotion play off place.
Esentepe Goalkeeper Onur was only brought into action on two occasions such was Esentepe’s dominance. In the 12 minutes following a Sergülen free kick he did well to block a close range effort from a Yalova player. It was not until deep into injury time that a long Yasın free kick caused him some anxiety before he finally pushed the ball over the bar.
Match action Yalova in blue and yellow
Yalova giant of a keeper Kıvanç who must be over 2 meters tall was kept busy for most of the match noticeably pulling off a fine diving save from a shot from Şükrü in the 21st minute.
On a very warm July evening, a large crowd enjoyed Esentepe’s play particularly in the first half when some of their moves were breathtaking, intricate passing, players running into space.
Esentepe took the lead in the 20th minute following a fine move, Emre Mutlu as he did all afternoon broke up a Yalova attack and found Şükrü on the left, leaving defenders in his wake the youngster went on into the area before finding another even younger player HÜSEYIN DEYNEKLi who slotted the ball past Kıvanç with all the aplomb of an experienced striker to register 2 goals in 2 games for him. Note the ages of Şükrü 17 and Hüseyin only 16, Esentepe have some outstanding and exciting youngsters on their books. 1-0
Another fine Esentepe move in the 30th minute saw Mahmut surge upfield playing a 1-2 with Hüseyin and putting in a fierce shot that just cleared the Yalova crossbar.
HALF TIME SCORE 1-0
The opening 10 minutes of the second half was quiet, with Yalova trying desperately to get on level terms, their playmaker Gökan Titiz was trying his best but was always being hounded by Esentepe’s Yakup and Emre in midfield.
Esentepe secured the match in the 60th minute, a Yalova free kick was cleared and Esentepe broke quickly on the right led by Hüseyin Deynekli and finally Yakup squaring the ball across to Eray bearing down on goal who had his legs whipped away from him by Sergülen. ERAY picked himself up and scored with a “stop go” penalty committing goalkeeper Kıvanç to go one way while slotting the ball home the other way. 2-0.
A happy Esentepe team celebrate their goals !
In the final 30 minutes, Esentepe controlled the match any chances created by the opposition were quickly dealt with by the Esentepe central defenders Şahın and Nersin.
ŞAHIN who is not tall for a central defender was outstanding, he won every cross in the air, was my “Man of the Match”. He was closely followed by Nersin who had a great game as did Emre Mutlu who had his best performance in an Esentepe shirt, operating as a defensive midfield player.
Upfront forwards Eray and Hüseyin ran and ran harrying the Yalova defence.
The whole team supporting these players it was an outstanding team performance a “perfect storm”.
Finally a word for the referee Mr SERHAN SIMŞEK who had an excellent match, you hardly noticed that he was on the field and of course well supported by his linesmen. FULL TIME SCORE 2-0
