Galatasaray Beat Stuttgart 2-0 in Champions League as Batrakov Scores Twice in First 15 Minutes
Galatasaray beat Stuttgart 2-0 at RAMS Park in Istanbul on Tuesday, November 3, in Matchday 4 of the Champions League league phase. Russian forward Alexey Batrakov scored both goals within the first 15 minutes. The win gave the Turkish side back-to-back wins in the competition. It also took them to seven points from four games.
The match could have started very differently. In the eighth minute, Stuttgart's Leweling hit the ball with a shot that struck both posts and bounced back into play. Galatasaray made the most of that escape. Within four minutes, they were in front.
The opener came in the 12th minute. Mario Lemina started a move, and Roland Sallai's cross was cleared by the defence. The ball fell to Batrakov, who fired a close-range shot into the roof of the net. Three minutes later, Davinson Sanchez sent a pass over the top, and Batrakov ran onto it. He broke through the Stuttgart defence and slotted the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow to make it 2-0. It was the 21-year-old's fourth goal of this Champions League campaign.
Stuttgart came back into the game in the first half. Chris Fuhrich fired a shot narrowly wide in the 42nd minute after it deflected off a Galatasaray defender. The visitors kept pushing after the break, but they could not find a way through.
Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir was the hero. He made several key saves in the second half. He denied an effort in the 56th minute, and then saved shots from Deniz Undav in the 63rd and Fuhrich two minutes later. He also rushed off his line in the 86th minute to block an attempt from Pejcinovic after the forward had broken through. Stuttgart did put the ball in the net late in the game through Fuhrich, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Batrakov was named Player of the Match. Statistics gave him a 9.3 rating, with three shots on target, four crosses and a key pass.
The result keeps Galatasaray's season on track. They had beaten Lille away in the previous round. They now have a record of two wins, one draw and one defeat. Stuttgart had come into the game in good form after a 4-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.