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Steffen Schmidt - August 10, 2021
St. Johnstone vs Galatasaray
UEFA Europa League Qualification,
Date: Thursday, 12 August 2021
Kick-off 19:00 UK/ 20:00 CET
Venue: McDiarmid Park.
St. Johnstone managed one of the most memorable results in their history by holding Galatasaray to a 1-1 draw last week in Istanbul. Can they build on such a display and complete the massive shock by eliminating the Turkish giants in the second leg of this UEFA Europa League qualifying tie at McDiarmid Park?
It was indeed a special evening for Callum Davidson and his troops last Thursday in Istanbul.
Before the start of the match, they would have definitely taken the 1-1 draw all day long, but there is some kind of bitterness in the mouth of St. Johnstone’s fans given that their team dropped a one-goal lead against the ten-man opposition.
St. Johnstone got everything they needed when Galatasaray’s keeper Fernando Muslera was sent off for causing a penalty-kick which was successfully converted by Jason Kerr.
It was a phenomenal situation for the Saints with more than 30 minutes left to play.
Nevertheless, they gave up the lead just two minutes later as Sacha Boey came up with a super-quick equalizer for the Turks.
Galatasaray thus remain favorites to advance into the playoffs round, especially after surviving a one-goal deficit with ten men on the pitch in the final half an hour of the first leg.
The Scottish outfit will thus likely keep the main focus on defending their own net in the rematch in Perth.
After all, St. Johnstone conceded only one goal in their opening two games of the new Scottish Premiership season.
They have failed to do much at the opposite end, playing out back-to-back low-scoring draws to Ross County (0-0 on the road) and Motherwell (1-1 at home).
We don’t see too many goals in this match. The hosts will try and keep it a goalless draw for as long as possible, especially knowing that the clash against a very much beatable Randers side awaits in a potential playoffs round.
The quality and experience (crucial for this type of matches) is on Galatasaray’s side, though. We thus expect the visitors to edge it with a late winner at McDiarmid Park.
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