Galatasaray bid farewell to Europe
Galatasaray faced Sparta Praha in the second match of UEFA Europa League Play-Off Round. The home team won the match played at Letná Stadium in Prague 4-1. Galatasaray said goodbye to Europe with this score.
The hosts, who started the match well and with pressure, found the first position in the 6th minute. Laci's header from Preciado's ball behind the defence was saved by Muslera. In the 8th minute, Preciado, who was behind our defence, sent the ball over Muslera and into the net: 1-0.
After the goal, Galatasaray started to attack the rival goal. Mertens' shot from inside the penalty area was blocked by the defence but a minute later we equalised. Mertens took the free kick from the right wing and cut inside perfectly. Davinson's header hit the post, but Abdülkerim Bardakcı, who followed the ball well, found the net with a header: 1-1.
The yellow-reds, who gained morale after the goal, found another position with Mertens. The Belgian star sent a deep ball into the box and Kerem Akturkoglu shot from the edge of the box but couldn't find the frame. After suffocating the opponent with successive attacks, Galatasaray tried to find the net with Torreira, but his shot was also off target.
Coming from the right flank, where Baris Alper Yilmaz was in particular, the yellow reds were unable to find Icardi in Kaan Ayhan's effective centre.
In the 38th minute, the Prague team came from Preciado's wing. In his centre to the front post, Olatjuni's heel kick was saved by Muslera at the last moment. In the 40th minute, the hosts took advantage of a gap in our defence and scored, but it was disallowed for offside.
In the 43rd Barış Alper drifted perfectly and quickly behind the defence, but his shot was intercepted by the rival defence at the last moment. The first half ended in a 1-1 draw.
The first dangerous attack of the second half came from Praha. Haraslin's left-footed shot from near the penalty area went just over the crossbar.
In the 55th minute, the Prague team came close to scoring. Baris Alper's back pass fell short and Olatunji faced Muslera. Abdülkerim made an excellent defensive move and prevented the opponent from scoring.
In the 59th, Mertens turned beautifully after receiving a pass from Icardi and created an angle for himself, but his shot went wide of the post.
Sergio Oliveira and Wilfried Zaha came on at 62. Dries Mertens and Kerem Aktürkoğlu came off.
In the 70th minute Kaan Ayhan was sent off with a red card after a tackle on his opponent. In the 74th minute, Tuci's header from the left centre went into the net. In the 75th minute Tete came into the game instead of Kerem Demirbay. In the 81st, Harasnin made the score 3-1 with a ball behind the defence.
In the 83rd minute Lucas Torreira was replaced by Carlos Vinicius and Galatasaray took all the risks. In the remaining minutes, fatigue set in as a result of being down to 10 men. Sparta Praha closed down in defence and exploited the gaps up front. Scoring in the 7th extra minute, the hosts won the match 4-1 and qualified for the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
