The Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba was unable to prevent the Turkish club Galatasaray from losing a home match against Gençlerbirliği. Galatasaray were the dominant team in the match, but they were condemned to a 1-0 shock defeat. Drogba had the opportunity to at least equalise in match, but he failed to convert his penalty.
The Turkish team leaders came into the match on the back of a good run of form, which had seen them go unbeaten for several weeks now. They play with this confidence and controlled most of the match. The team with Drogba in its lineup had 18 shots on target throughout the match, but they were unable to convert any chance into a goal.
As a result of this defeat, Galatasaray have allowed Besiktas to close the gap to just five points after having played 25 matches. Besiktas have the opportunity to move even closer to the table leaders because they have a game in hand. Galatasaray were left to rue their bad luck after they hit the crossbar twice.
Drogba was not used from the start, as the manager resorted to using Burak Yilmaz as the lone striker. Even after the introduction of Drogba, Galatasaray were unable to get the goal that would have given them a point.
Gala are lucky to have Drogba – just before his move to Turkey the odds online reckoned that he was more likely to end up playing again in the English Premier League.
Galatasaray did not have their manager Fatih Terim was absent on the sidelines because he was serving his three match ban. This is the second of his three match ban. As a result of this defeat, the club have managed just two wins in the last five matches. They need to improve as soon as possible and they will be facing the German club Schalke in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 round in the midweek action. The Turkish club trail the Germans by an away goal in the first leg.