psv fightback floors galatasaray published: thursday 19 october 2006, 0.25cet
galatasaray sk 1-2 psv eindhoven jan kromkamp and arouna koné scored in istanbul as the dutch champions came from behind for another away victory.
by david o'byrne from atatürk olimpiyat stadium
psv eindhoven coach ronald koeman got the better of his former team-mate erik gerets as the dutch champions bounced back from an early deficit to win at galatasaray sk thanks to second-half strikes from jan kromkamp and arouna koné.
second-half turnaround the two coaches were team-mates in the psv side that lifted the european champion clubs' cup in 1988, and initially it was gerets who enjoyed the upper hand in istanbul as saša ilić's deflected effort opened the scoring midway through the first period. however, kromkamp equalised a minute before the hour and koné then strode clear to give the visitors the points. the victory keeps psv level with liverpool fc on seven points at the head of group c, six more than both galatasaray – who travel to eindhoven on matchday 4 – and fc girondins de bordeaux.
brisk start galatasaray started well in a brisk opening period with arda turan impressing down the wing and orhan ak twice heading narrowly over. with the visitors scarcely able to get out of their own half galatasaray, roared on by the near-capacity crowd, pressed home their advantage in the shape of a series of fierce attacks. the breakthrough duly came on 19 minutes after a piercing arda run, the resulting loose ball breaking to ümit karan whose pinpoint pass picked out ilić on the right of the psv penalty area. the serbian needed no second invitation, directing his shot towards the corner and a slight deflection took the ball beyond heurelho gomes and into the net.
midfield battle having fallen behind, psv overcame their earlier hesitancy with koné and jefferson farfán launching a series of counterattacks. however, they struggled to get beyond the edge of a galatasaray penalty box studiously marshalled by the home defence. as the turkish team gradually dropped deeper, anticipating more serious pressure, the game became congested in midfield with a series of niggling fouls interrupting play. yet it was the eredivisie side who were on the front foot as the half drew to a close, edison méndez calling faryd mondragón to tip his shot around the right-hand post.
psv rally their confidence restored, psv began the second period the sharper and were rewarded when a misunderstanding in the galatasaray back line allowed kromkamp to slip his marker and slide a precise shot under mondragón. with the hosts' self-belief visibly draining, gerets tried a triple substitution with cihan haspolatlı, necati ateş and hakan şükür all coming on.
points secured as the new arrivals pushed upfield looking for an opening, however, a long mika väyrynen pass found koné advancing on goal with 18 minutes left and the ivory coast striker slipped past his marker before nervelessly planting his shot past the exposed mondragón. to their credit galatasaray rallied strongly, but as in their previous fixture against liverpool three weeks ago, it was too little too late and the visitors held firm for a second successive away win.
