The eleventh consecutive league victory came in a game where they were just a few minutes behind the score. Icardi, already with Juan Mata on the pitch, scored the winner against Ümraniyespor.
Galatasaray achieved a valuable victory against Ümraniyespor (3-2). Beneficial for several reasons beyond adding all three points and remaining top of the Super League. Juan Mata’s team achieved its eleventh consecutive victory in the competition (fourteenth counting the Cup games), and it did so in a tough match from the beginning. Champion teams must be able to come out on top in all circumstances, and Galatasaray is determined to return to reigning supreme in Turkish football.
Juan came on the pitch in minute 76, when the score was 2-2. The Spaniard replaced Sérgio Oliveira and, as usual, opened up passing lanes for his teammates all over the pitch. He was also successful in delivering the ball (85% effectiveness). With him on the pitch, Icardi scored the final 3-2 with a superb header (83rd minute). It was the first time that Galatasaray had taken the lead in the match (goals by Bardakcı and Icardi himself, from a penalty, had previously levelled Ümraniyespor’s advantage).
The squad led by Okan Buruk will compete again at the NEF Stadyumu this Sunday, 5 February. It will do so against Trabzonspor, current league champion, in one of the classic games of Turkish national football.
