9-man Galatasaray draw with Alanyaspor at home

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) – Galatasaray carried on losing points in the Turkish Spor Toto Super Lig as they last drew with Corendon Alanyaspor 2-2 at home.

The Lions made a good start to the match at the Nef Stadium as Belgian forward Dries Mertens scored the opener in the 11th minute, and Galatasaray's Argentine star Mauro Icardi finished in the box after a mistake of Alanyaspor defense in the 22nd minute.

Galatasaray's French right-back Sacha Boey was shown a red card in the minute 31 for a professional foul on Alanyaspor's Daniel Candeias.

In addition, Mertens and Icardi netted one goal each in the first half, but they were both ruled out for offside.

In the second half, things did not go well for Galatasaray.

Alanyaspor narrowed the gap to one in the 68th minute as Slovenian left-back Jure Balkovec scored from freekick to encourage his team, 1-2.

The visitors preferred an attacking play in the rest of the time.

In the injury time, Alanyaspor leveled the game as Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan beat Galatasaray goalkeeper Fernando Muslera with a classy finish that upset the home team, 2-2.

Before the equalizer, Alanyaspor wasted several chances in front of Galatasaray's goal.

In the minute 93, Galatasaray defender Emin Bayram missed a one-on-one chance against Runar Alex Runarsson. The Alanyaspor goalie made a critical save.

Near the end of the match Galatasaray were down to nine men on the pitch. Turkish defender Abdulkerim Bardakci was sent off for a hard tackle against Efecan Karaca.

Galatasaray's win drought was extended to three matches as they have been handed two draws and a loss since Oct. 1.

The Lions are drifting away from the title race in the league as Galatasaray are now in the eighth position with 18 points in 10 matches.

Following the draw, mid-table Alanyaspor have 13 points.

Fenerbahce are leading the Super Lig with 23 points.

- Sunday's results:

Kasimpasa - Yukatel Kayserispor: 0-1

Adana Demirspor - Arabam.com Konyaspor: 1-1

Galatasaray - Corendon Alanyaspor: 2-2