atletico madrid 1-1 galatasaray: keita cancels out reyes stunner
los colchoneros took the lead, but were unable to hang on...
galatasaray hold a slight advantage going into the second leg, having claimed a late away goal against atletico madrid.
los colchoneros fielded their strongest possible eleven, with david de gea keeping his place in goal, while sergio aguero and diego forlan started upfront.
galatasaray, meanwhile, had former rojiblanco leo franco in goal, but were missing harry kewell.
the match got off to a cagey start, with both sides struggling to hold on to the ball for any meaningful length of time. ıt took 12 minutes for the first effort on goal, when arda turan volleyed wide from inside the box. the turk was looking lively, and he soon tested de gea, but the young keeper was equal to his drive from outside the box.
the home side were struggling to test their former 'keeper, but on 22 minutes, jose antonio reyes pulled a rabbit out of the hat. standing over a free kick from just outside the box, the winger let fly and saw his shot race into the top corner of the net, leaving leo franco with no chance.
set pieces were proving a constant threat for the visitors, and forlan was soon testing franco with another one on the half hour mark, which was tipped over the bar. with ten minutes left in the first half, frank rijkaard made a substitution, taking caner erkin off for giovani dos santos. however, the action was still all at the other end, with aguero seeing his toe-poke well parried by franco.
los rojiblancos continued to press, and forlan soon saw his shot across goal go just the wrong side of the post. soon after, raul garcia got his head onto a reyes free kick, but sent it straight at the 'keeper. finally, just before the break, simao let fly with an audacious volley from outside the box, which bounced back off the post with franco stranded.
ıt looked as though the hosts would comfortably see out the rest of the half, but mustafa sarp provided a scare when he headed elano's free kick goalwards, only for de gea to pull off a stunning save. that was the final chance of the half, with all left to play for in the second.
the second half started much like the first, with both sides taking a while to settle back into the intense rhythm they had previously established. ıt took ten minutes for the first shot on goal, when kader keita let fly from outside the box, requiring a smart save by de gea.
just before the hour mark, forlan was replaced by jose manuel jurado, as atleti looked to shore up their midfield. aguero was still threatening though, and after going on a mazy run, it required a diving save from franco to stop him grabbing the second. then, simao stood over another free kick and let fly, but again his ex team-mate came to the rescue.
with 20 minutes remaining, atleti received a blow as de gea suffered an injury while taking a goal kick, requiring him to be replaced by sergio asenjo. the substitute nearly had a horrific introduction, when he was caught in no-man's land trying to stop sarp's header, but tomas ujfalusi rescued the situation on the line. however, minutes later, the damage was done when keita turned in hakan balta's cross at the near post, with asenjo's positioning more than suspect.
both sides now seemed eager to find the winner, and simao was thwarted by leo franco once more with ten minutes left. soon, reyes was substituted for eduardo salvio, and the argentine nearly scored with his first touch in an atleti shirt, but he turned valera's cross wide.
that proved to be the final chance of the match, as galatasaray grabbed a crucial away goal, giving them the edge for the second leg.
