Rizespor manager İlhan Palut: 'We secured a very important victory'

Süper Lig side Çaykur Rizespor manager İlhan Palut evaluated the match after his team's 3-1 victory over Gaziantep FK.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, İlhan Palut noted that as the league nears its end, every point earned is valuable.

THE FIRST HALF WAS LOW-TEMPO

Stating that the first half of the match featured an extremely sluggish game with a low tempo, Palut remarked, "It looked like a boring match. It was certainly not the starting tempo, desire, or ambition we needed in a match we had to win, especially on this pitch."

Pointing out that they made tactical changes during the halftime break, Palut assessed, "On-field organization was important, but beyond that, our significant shortcoming was not playing with enough energy and failing to put enough desire onto the pitch."

Emphasizing that they dominated the game in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Palut stated the following:

"While it looked like the match was evolving into a one-sided affair, our opponent found a goal on a transition, and for the next 15 minutes, we were truly in disarray. Gaziantep could have finished the match there, and we could have been in a very difficult situation, but with the goal we scored, a completely different game scenario emerged. A Rizespor team with high morale and motivation, dominating the game, creating chances, not giving the opponent chances, and winning back the balls we lost from the midfield line to turn them into attacks. We won a penalty, missed it, and kept searching. We found a goal, and we could have scored more."

Palut noted that Gaziantep FK had chances in the final minutes, saying:

"There were moments when they were close to scoring and scrambles, but we fended them off. It was a variable match; a low-tempo game in the first half, a Rizespor that started the second half well. A Gaziantep team that could have put the game away for 15 minutes after their goal. A Rizespor team that created many chances in the last half hour and won the match with that effort. I am never satisfied, except for the desire to win the match that we showed in the last half hour. We gave away too many chances, and our desire was not good enough. At the end of the day, we secured a very, very important victory. In terms of points, we have taken a breath from the bottom. Looking at the top, we have set ourselves the plan of 'How can we do better?' after this match."

İlhan Palut added that they played their most disorganized game at home this season, noting that they did not experience such lapses even in the matches they lost.

News Source: AA