Achilles Cup - Match Day 3

Galatasaray 0 – 1 Fenerbahce

With the teams joint bottom with just a point each from their previous endeavours in the competition this promised to be a blood and guts affair, however the only thing hot on offer proved to be the tea served at the Turk Telekom Arena.

It appeared that both teams were intent on not losing rather than winning with the first half dominated by the defences however on 37 minutes a rare foray forward from the visitors lead to a corner which Souza whipped into the box and was met by Callejon whose header was powered in off the post.

This should have been the signal for Gala to open up and look for an equaliser and 2 minutes later a speculative long range effort from Melo that Casilla did well to turn over the bar seemed to signal a change of intent by the hosts.

But that turned out be the sum of all the attacking intent from both teams for the night, if the first half had been short on goal mouth action it was none existent in the second with both keepers being virtual spectators for 45 minutes.

The result virtually ends Galatasaray manager Princes hopes of silverware in this competition whilst for Fenerbahce supremo Little it keeps them on the coat tails of the pack leaders.

Olympiacos 1 – 0 Besiktas

The Greeks went into this game needing a victory to put some distance between at least one of the bottom two clubs who faced each other over in Istanbul whilst Besiktas had the opportunity to put a country mile between them and the rest of the group if they could take 3 points.

As many higher league opponents have found in various competitions this season Olympicaos are a tough nut to crack and so again it proved. The Besiktas cause wasn’t helped however when a reckless challenge from behind by Toivonen on Kasami earned him a straight red on 37 minutes.

The hosts however struggled to make their numerical advantage count until just after the hour mark when a slick ball through to Pavoletti from Fortounis was struck with ferocity by the Italian which gave Zengin with no chance of stopping.

 The home team had goalkeeper Lopez to thank though for helping them to all t3 points with a late save from an Ozyakup free kick which looked destined for the back of the net but for an acrobatic save from the veteran Spaniard.

The win puts Olympicaos a point behind Besiktas who still hold on to top spot despite the defeat.

The Turks manager Vogeleer will see the Toivonen dismissal as being crucial to the outcome but can have no complaints whilst opposite number McLean will take his side to Fenerbahce next week with even greater confidence.