Turkish team Galatasaray won their third match in Champions League Group B this season against Copenhagen and climbed to 2nd rank in the group with four points.
Turkish champions Galatasaray climbed to 2nd in Champions League Group B thanks to their victory against Copenhagen and Juventus’ loss to Real Madrid away.
Felipe Melo, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba moved Red and Yellows to the lead in first half. In second half, they preferred to keep the score however conceded a goal by Copenhagen by Claudemir.
It was also Mancini’s first win after a long time since he managed Manchester City in Champions League 2010-2011 season.
It was just the beginning of the game when Felipe Melo, the Brazilian scored with a bullet header after fine work from Drogba by the right corner flag allowed Dany Nounkeu to cross and the midfielder headed in from ten yards out in 10th min.
Galatasaray was clearly dominant in the field through the first half and in 38th min., Eboue cut in from the right as he skipped away from Claudemir and his pass found Sneijder, just to the left of goal, and the Dutchman’s finished with a cultured right-foot finish into the far corner of the net.
The home side’s two Ivorians Drogba and Eboue combined very well, as Eboue got to the touchline and threaded a ball between defenders and across the face of goal which his compatriot Drogba confidently sidefooted into the net in 45th min.
Eboue has been a real attacking threat for his side as Galatasaray looked to blow away Copenhagen in Istanbul. After Nounkeu crossed for Felipe Melo to head the first goal of the night, Eboue’s pace has allowed him to find the space to cross for Sneijder and Drogba to land further blow to the Danish side.
Through the closure of the game Copengahen started to move and then, after substitute Toutouh tried to control the ball for himself on the edge of the box, Claudemir charged onto the ball and poked the ball past Muslera for a consolation.
In tonight’s other Group B match, Real Madrid leaded Juventus 2-1 thanks to two goals from Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
After those results, Galatasaray got very critical advantage to qualify to the knock-out in Champions League.
GROUP B
| Pos. | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Av | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| 2 | Galatasaray | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 4 |
| 3 | Juventus | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 2 |
| 4 | FC Copenhagen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 1 |
Anatolia News Agency
