Abdelzaher El Saka's Konyaspor lost to struggling Antalyaspor 1-0; a serious set-back on their hopes of European qualification in what is proving an interesting battle.

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Konyaspor, who now have Mohamed Abdullah as well as El Saka, are looking for the all important 4th spot to play European football next season, and are currently the best Turkish club containing Egyptians. Picking up points at Antalyaspor over the weekend were vital however.

Standings after 20 games:
4th: Kayserispor: 31 points
5th: Sivasspor: 31
6th: Genclerbirligi: 30
7th: Vestel: 29
8th: Konyaspor: 28
9th: Ankaraspor: 26
10th: Bursaspor: 26
11th: Trabzonspor: 24 (Ayman)
12th: Rizespor: 24 (Beshir & Said)

Ratings:

Antalyaspor: Cordoba xxx, Ugur xxx, Dzifewicki xx, Bieniuk xx, Volkan xxx (Ahmet Dursun min. 81 x), Suazu xxx, Ali Bilgin xxx, Senol xxx, Ilyas xxx, Ali Zitouni xxx (Metin min. 86 ?), Coskun xxx (Straka min. 81 x)

Konyaspor: Ozden xx, Omer xx, El Saka xx, Mertol xx (Volkan min. 86 ?), Erman Ergin xx (Ederceccon dmink. 69 x), Da Silva xx, Mustafa Er xx, Eren x, Erman Ozgur xx (Sedat min. 61 x), Tayfun xx, Fernandez xx

Mohamed Abdullah did not feature while El Saka captained Konya. His side struggled for large parts of the game though, and though they conceded in the 65th minute, it could have been much earlier.

Tunisian player Ali Zitouni was a handful, and headed just wide early on. This proved to be a common scenario, as El Saka's men conceded no fewer than three completely free headers inside the penalty area in the first half.

Just before the interval, Konya began to get back into the match, and Ahmed Hassan's former team-mate Oscar Cordoba made a few decent stops. At the start of the second half the keeper saved a powerful shot from Tayfun, who had made a fast run forward.

But Antalya remained more dangerous. A cross from the right could have been met by El Saka, who dived at it with his head but missed it and rolled on the edge of the box. The ball went straight to a striker whose shot, lucky for the Egyptian, was saved.

It was no surprise that the goal came from a set-piece, though it was in fact direct! Antalya defender Ugur blasted a free-kick from the left directly into Ozden's goal, and this turned out to be the only goal of the encounter.

Though captaining Konya, it is worth noting that El Saka is very likely on his way to Zamalek in the summer. The centre-back is thought to be finalising a deal with the Cairo club, after January talks stalled on financial issues.

More soon on EgyptianPlayers.com...

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• Read more reports about Egyptian players in the Turkish league in the professionals page one
• Download Ahmed Hassan and El Saka's goals from multimedia page
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