By Richard Beale….
Who was it who said ” a week is a long time in Politics”, well a week is even longer in football! After turning in their best performance of the season last week against Bostanci, this week Esentepe came crashing down to earth turning in their worst performance of the season.
Results: KARŞIYAKA ASK 2 ESENTEPE KKSK 0
Sunday February 13, 2022: AKSA League 1: Karşıyaka Ergin Şahdur Stadium.
Weather: Dry, cloudy, occasional sunny periods.
Let’s not take anything away from Karşıyaka they turned up “at the races” today and fully deserved their win, the only surprise was that it was by only 2 goals. Esentepe really had a “bad day at the office” they didn’t turn up and to complete a miserable afternoon had their Captain Nersin Osman sent off for a second yellow card offence in the 75th minute. Esentepe can have no complaints they were out-thought, out-fought, out-classed and were second best in everything.
Karşıyaka has built up a squad to deliver Super League football next season, they are strong in most departments. Mehmet Gürpınar, Hamis Çakır are part of a tight defence. In midfield they are more than covered with the likes of Tahir, Arda and Chrislin, up front they have the tall and awkward Esin and now have added the talented Yiğit Can to their squad.
Esentepe in red strip having a tough time
YİĞİT CAN AYAZ their recent signing from Çentinkaya, made his first full start and made his presence felt scoring both of his sides two goals. Such is the depth of the Karşıyaka squad they can afford to leave their top goalscorer of 11 goals Güvenç Sakallıoğlu on the bench!
The Ergin Şahdur Stadium is a very small ground that can be quite intimidating at times, especially with their partisan supporters roaring them on.
Karşıyaka never allowed Esentepe to settle right from the kickoff they had them on the back foot, chasing and harrying them down, pressurising them into mistakes or losing possession. The ball was like a “hot potato” to them they were not allowed time to put their foot on the ball.
Karşıyaka deservedly took the lead in the 16th minute when a player was allowed to continue along the left byline, with Esentepe defenders thinking the ball would go out, the ball was squared across to YİĞİT CAN AYAZ to sweep the ball past Şiho. 1-0.
Ex Esentepe player Ahmet Çağer was having a storming match, popping up everywhere he forced Esentepe Goalkeeper Şiho into making a brilliant save pushing his volley over the crossbar for a corner in the 32nd minute.
Esentepe had offered virtually no threat to the home goal and were fortunate to be only one goal down at the break. HALF TIME SCORE: 1-0
Karşıyaka started the second half where they left off in the first half, with the dangerous ESİN SONAY heading just over a Mehmet Gürpinar free kick in the 50th minute.
At the other end In a rare Esentepe attack, Esentepe had appeals for a penalty turned down when Hüseyin Deynekli went to the ground after a collision with Huseyin Konyalıoğlu, but these were ignored by the referee.
Esentepe defence was caught square and hopelessly exposed when YİĞİT CAN AYAZ scored his second goal in the 65th minute. 2-0.
Esentepe woes continued in the 75th minute when their Captain Nersin Osman was sent off for a second yellow card offence after a hard tackle on Arda Olagoke.
Though Esentepe tried to create something, their efforts were easily dealt with by the strong Karşıyaka defence, they pushed men forward but left themselves exposed to fast breaks by the home team.
Karşıyaka top goal scorer Güvenc had come on as a replacement for Yiğit Can but he spurned to easy chances to increase his team’s lead before the final whistle. FULL TIME SCORE: 2-0
SUMMING UP: Sometimes in football, you have to “doff your cap, hold your hands up” and say you were beaten by a better team. Such was Sunday’s performance, let’s condone this to the file “of forgettable Esentepe matches”, dust yourself down and prepare for the next match. That will be the visit of another high flying team Dörtyol, next Saturday at Esentepe.
ESENTEPE TEAM : Şiho (gk); Devran (Mustafa 75), Nersin (c), Şenol, OKAN: Salih (Semih 58), Ilyas, Emre: Deniz, Eser (Ege Can 75), Hüseyin Deynekli.
Esentepe replacements not used: Tuğrul (gk), Hüseyin Ermış, Tuğra, Mahmut.
KARSIYAKA TEAM: Mustafa Dağman (gk); Mehmet (c), Hüseyin, Sezer, Hamis, Tahir (Altun 88), Arda, Ahmet (Güvenç 58), Chrislin, Esin, Yiğit Can (Aykan 68)
Red card: Nersin (Esentepe) 75: Yellow card : Hüseyin. (Karşıyaka)
Referee : FEHMI DAYI – Excellent.
