Rizespor and Alanyaspor met at Çaykur Didi Stadium on Monday evening, September seventh, in the fourth matchday of the Süper Lig regular season. The hosts held on for ninety minutes only to concede a late own goal, and the visitors took all three points from the match.
It was a tight affair for long stretches, and here's the thing — the turning point came in the seventieth minute when Zakaria Ariss turned the ball into his own net. Before that, Attila Mocsi had picked up a yellow card in the thirty-first minute, and Alanyaspor had already made their first change, bringing on Ianis Hagi for a substitution in the fortieth.
By then, to be fair, we had called for the away side to come out on top, though our confidence sat at just thirty-eight percent. The result vindicated that call, even if the manner of victory looked anything but convincing. Alanyaspor did not dominate the ball, but they found the space they needed in the final third.
The statistics tell a different story from the scoreboard. Rizespor kept sixty-four percent of possession, launched one hundred and five attacks, and registered eight corners, yet they only managed two big chances and finished with expected goals of one point two nine. Alanyaspor, with thirty-six percent possession, created four big chances and carried expected goals of two point zero five. Five shots on target for the hosts yielded nothing, while two on target for the visitors produced the decisive moment.
As for where this leaves the table, Rizespor remain in ninth place with six points from three games, one defeat sitting alongside two wins. Alanyaspor occupy twelfth, sitting on four points after one win, one draw, and one loss. The gap between them narrows, and the visitors will have plenty of satisfaction from a result that did not look like it was coming until it arrived.
