On a day when Konyaspor beautifully honoured our Fallen Martyrs, the heavens opened up as a mark of respect at the start of a must win match for both teams.

The beginning of the match was a bit subdued as a respectful silence in memory of our martyrs carries over into the early stages of this match.

Kasımpaşa starts of the match as the side with most possession, with Konyaspor continuing with their pressing game. It is a slow tentative start from both sides, Konyaspor start in a 4-4-2 formation whereas Kasımpaşa start with a 4-3-3 formation which served Göztepe so well a few weeks ago.

Milosevic and Ömer Ali started the game well as the front two, intelligently pressing the ball and making life uncomfortable for the Kasımpaşa defenders. At the back Selim and Uğur have started the match with a great understanding, when one presses the attacker the other falls back into a sweeper position to cover. These are great partnerships which should be allowed to flourish in the coming weeks.

A feature of the first half, and indeed the rest of the game is Bülent Korkmaz urging his players to move the ball forward quickly. In the 40^th minute the ball is moved quickly, and only a desperate lunging tackle stops Robert Mak from opening the scoring. Ömer Ali, in particular seems to be revelling in his new position, always a thorn in the side of defenders by pressing the ball, but his intelligent play of the ball is creating all kinds of problems for Kasımpaşa.

At this point it is only our final ball in the last third of the field that is letting us down.

Half Time: Konyaspor 0 – 0 Kasımpaşa

Konyaspor restart the game in the second half, and they start how they mean to go on. It is a half in which they dominate possession and territory for large parts but are unable to find that killer pass.

Thuram replaces Shengelia at the beginning of the half, which means that Ömer Ali is moved to the wide right position. The formation stays the same. Konyaspor for the first 15 minutes of the second half are virtually camped in the Kasımpaşa half without really creating any chances of note.

Kasımpaşa attacks are sporadic, with only Quaresma causing a few problems.

On 64 minutes Robert Mak is replaced by Bajic as Konyaspor look to improve their attacking options, with the ever-impressive Milosevic taking Mak’s position on the left-hand side.

At this point, the match lulls into a midfield battle and a Quaresma inspired Kasımpaşa enjoy the best spell of the second half.

Then a couple of substitutions one from either side halts play for a moment. Hurtado replaces Ömer Ali while the impressive Quaresma is replaced by Yusuf Erdoğan. Apart from a Hurtado free kick there is not much more created by either side in the remaining minutes. And the match fizzles out to a scoreless draw.

Final Score: Konyaspor 0 – 0 Kasımpaşa

A game in which Kasımpaşa came looking for a point, in the end it is more than they deserve. Having had no shots on target and possibly the easiest game Serkan has had this season.

Konyaspor looked a much better team than they have for a while, the defence with Selin and Uğur look solid and Intune with each other. Ömer Ali and Milosevic look great going forward. We are just lacking that cutting edge in the final third. But this system looks like it can bring results, our form away from home has been better than our home form this season. It’s with that in mind that I am looking forward to next weekends match with Yeni Malatyaspor. And hopefully Bülent Korkmaz’s first win as Konyaspor Head Coach.