Galatasaray advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League thanks to a 3-2 win over Schalke 04 this evening.
Hosts Schalke took the lead midway through the first half through Roman Neustadter, but goals from Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz put Galatasaray in command before the break.
Michel Bastos brought Schalke back into the tie after the restart, but Umut Bulut sealed the away side's route through to the last eight in stoppage time.
Sports Mole has looked back over the encounter to determine if Galatasaray deserved to progress.
Match statistics:
Schalke:
Shots 19
On target 11
Possession 51%
Corners 9
Fouls 15
Galatasaray:
Shots 14
On target 8
Possession 49%
Corners 3
Fouls 8
Was the result fair?
If either side had qualified, there couldn't have been many complaints - it really was that close. Having said that, Galatasaray were worthy victors. Any side that score three times away from home in the Champions League deserve to win the encounter.
Schalke's performance
No disrespect to Teemu Pukki, but he is no Klass-Jan Huntelaar. The Finn had several goalscoring chances that his injured teammate may very well have buried. It wasn't just Pukki that was wasteful, though, particularly during the second half. The tie was actually lost in the first half when they shipped two goals to put them on the back foot.
Galatasaray's performance
Granted they may have rode their luck at times, but their attacking display deserved it. They knew that goals were required going into the match and as a result had a positive attitude from the first whistle. Then when the time came to defend, they did so stubbornly.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Fernando Muslera: The Uruguayan goalkeeper has been linked with a host of clubs in recent months and on this performance you can see why. He made a string of saves after the restart to ensure that his Galatasaray side advanced through. With someone like him between the posts, you've always got a chance.
Biggest gaffe
In a match of few errors, step forward Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand and captain Benedikt Howedes. The pair made a complete mess of a long ball over the top and Yilmaz capitalised to score into an empty and in doing so put his side 2-1 up.
Referee performance
You'd have to say that Jonas Eriksson's running of the game helped to make it the spectacle that it was. He always played advantage and rarely got out his yellow card. It's that sort of performance that people want to see from officials in Europe's top competition.
What next?
Schalke: It's Bundesliga action for Schalke this Saturday when they take on Nurnberg away from home.
Galatasaray: The Turks also return to domestic matters on Sunday when they travel to Kayserispor for a Super Lig encounter.
Liam Apicella
