Galatasaray and Kasımpaşa faced each other in the 25th week of the Süper Lig. The home team beat their opponent 1-0, extending their winning streak to 14 matches and becoming the new record holder for the most consecutive wins in the league. With this result, Galatasaray increased their point difference with their rivals Fenerbahçe, who did not play a match this week, to 9 points. The only goal of the match was scored by Galatasaray's new signing Zaniolo. The starting 11s of the teams were as follows: . . . . .
GALATASARAY IN POSSESSION
Kasımpaşa almost never pressed high, even after conceding, which meant that Galatasaray had no difficulty during the build-up throughout the match. In fact, Galatasaray had an overwhelming 69% of possession against their opponents. In contrast, Galatasaray failed to create many scoring opportunities. The Rashica-Mata substitution in the 26th minute was crucial in the match. Rashica, a much more dynamic player than Mata, allowed Galatasaray to increase the tempo and establish dominance. Kasımpaşa started the pressing in the midfield and faced their opponents in a 4-4-2 formation. In these moments, one of the players in the Torreira-Oliveira duo would drop deep (usually Torreira) while the other would join the attacking line. The player who dropped deep was followed by Kasımpaşa's M. Tirpan, but the visitors were still unable to prevent Galatasaray from reaching him and moving the ball into the final third. In situations where M. Tirpan wasn't chasing the opposition No. 6, Kasımpaşa's forward duo would narrow in order to suppress Torreira. This meant that there was plenty of space for the Galatasaray centre-backs to dribble. In these moments, Nelsson and Abdülkerim dribbled and carried their team into the final third. The player playing in the number 10 position for the home team had a more unrestricted role in comparison to other players. First Mata and then Rashica, who came on later in the game, constantly looked for space between the opponent's 1st and 2nd line.
M. Tirpan stops covering Torreira and the task of covering Torreira is passed on to Kasımpaşa's forward duo. As a result, there are big gaps in front of the Galatasaray centre-backs
Koita and Chouiar narrow down to keep Torreria at bay. When Nelsson receives the ball, the Dane dribbles into the space in front of him and takes his team into the final third
Konyaspor's 4-4-2 formation in the middle third
Here we clearly see the role of Rashica, who plays in the number 10 position. Realizing that Zaniolo has pulled the left-back deeper with his run, Rashica quickly moves into the space created
3RD MAN TORREIRA
When Kasımpaşa strikers Chouiar and Koita applied pressure on the opposition centre-backs and applied cover shadow on Torreira at the same time, a player from the Galatasaray front line dropped deep to take on the 2nd man role. The player who dropped deep passed to the third man Torreira, who faced the goal, and helped break Kasımpaşa's first line of pressure. In this way, the home team neutralized the opponent's press.
In this situation we see M. Chouiar applying cover shadow on Torreira. It's impossible for Nelsson to reach Torreira with one pass
Aware of the situation, M. Rashica drops deep and passes the ball to Torreira. With no pressure applied on him, Torreira directs the play in a relaxed manner. As you can see, the 1st man in the position is Nelsson, the 2nd man is Rashica and the 3rd man is Torreira who receives the ball
This time it's Yunus Akgün who needs to drop deep and pass to Torreira after Nelsson's pass. The youngster drops deep and receives the ball , but doesn't pass it to Torreira, who can direct the attack more easily because he's facing the goal. Torreira shows that he wants the ball by waving his arms
GALATASARAY IN the final third
When Galatasaray moved the ball into the final third, Kasımpaşa's full-backs shifted inside, the wingers dropped back and a 6-2-2 formation was formed. Although this formation looked very solid defensively, it brought some disadvantages for Kasımpaşa (more on that in a moment). On the other hand, the home team's full-backs provided width in the middle and final thirds, while the wingers moved inside and positioned themselves between the opposition full-back and the centre-back.
Kasımpaşa's wingers drop back and a very defensive 6-2-2 formation emerges
With the ball in the middle third, we see Sacha Boey and Sam Adekugbe providing width, while the wingers shift into the middle
In the final third, the same principles apply. Full-backs provide width, while the wingers are positioned in the middle
Here we can once again clearly see the structure of Galatasaray's on-ball play. With the number 10 and the wingers, a total of 3 players are looking for space between the lines. Icardi provides depth, while the fullbacks provide width
GALATASARAY'S attacking VARIATIONS
There were some final third attacking variations that Galatasaray repeated throughout the match. Looking at the statistics, we can see that most of Galatasaray's attacks came from the right flank. The home team especially targeted the space behind the opposition full-back (usually behind Kasımpaşa left-back Yasin Özcan). Zaniolo, who came on in the 2nd half, contrary to expectations, was positioned on the right flank rather than the number 10 position, pairing up with Kasımpaşa's inexperienced 16-year-old left-back Yasin Özcan. As this plan worked, Galatasaray launched many of their attacks by making runs behind the opposition left-back. Here, the movement of the wingers was noteworthy. One player from the offensive line would go deep, drawing the opposition deeper and Galatasaray players would move into the space created.
We see Rashica running into the space behind Yasin Özcan and asking for the ball
Almost the same situation as before. Again we see Galatasaray players targeting the space behind the opposition full-back
Here we see how Galatasaray manipulates the opposition full-back. Drawing the opposition full-back to him, Baris Alper drops deep and pulls the opposing full-back with him. This creates space behind the defence. When Adekugbe receives the ball in the gap, the home team successfully move the ball into the dangerous area
KASIMPAŞA IN POSSESSION
Throughout the match, Kasımpaşa chose to play long from the back, even when Galatasaray were applying pressure. Goalkeeper Günay Güvenç played a long pass towards the striker duo, whose job was to win the long ball and send the ball to their teammates at the back. When the Kasımpaşa players lost the ball, they did not counter-press and started defending in the middle third. Although they aimed to get to the opponent's goal quickly when they captured the ball, they could not succeed in this due to the defensive structure they chose. Although the 6-2-2 formation they used in the defensive third looked solid defensively, Kasımpaşa's lack of players in the front reduced their counter-attacking ability. As a result, the visitors had almost no scoring chances throughout the match.
Günay Güvenç's long ball is played in by Fode Koita, who passes the ball to his teammates for a Kasımpaşa attack
Conclusıon
Although Kasımpaşa's substitutions in the 72nd minute brought in more offensive players, the visitors could hardly increase the pressure and tempo even when they were 1-0 down. From the beginning to the end of the game, Galatasaray had a clear dominance in the game, while the hosts failed to create clear goal scoring opportunities. Zaniolo, who came on later as a substitute, showed his football intelligence in his first game. The star of the match was M. Rashica with his assist, his runs and the pace he brought to the game.
