Astana’s Own (Goals)

It certainly wasn’t the most delicious fixture—at least on the surface of things—in Wednesday’s slate of Champions League affairs, but Galatasaray vs. FC Astana proved to be one of, if not the most entertaining clash of Match Day Two. Even Borat would have been proud.

Astana, the Kazakh side whose location on a world map is every traveler/hipster/geography nerd’s wet dream (the capital city is closer to Mongolia than it is to Ukraine; or better yet, closer to Beijing than it is to Rome), became the first side from the central Asian country to not only host a UEFA Champions League group stage match, but to also win a point, after an exciting 2-2 draw at the Astana Arena on Wednesday night.

The 30,000-seater stadium that first opened in 2009 was rocking the millisecond both clubs first emerged from the dressing room, and would only grow louder as the evening progressed. It should be noted that because of the significant time difference between Kazakhstan and the vast majority of Europe (London, for example, is five hours behind Astana), the match commenced a full two hours and 45 minutes earlier than the rest of Wednesday’s games, which translated to a local start time of 10:00 PM—well past the bedtime of young Kazakhs wishing to root on their hometown heroes. Surely exceptions were made for the children on this historic night though.

Galatasaray, who were in search of their first road Champions League victory since March 2013—a nine-game stretch—might have been forgiven for a lackluster performance under unfamiliar circumstances, especially when you consider the near five-hour flight (or 61-hour drive for any Cim-Bom faithful daring enough to attempt the arduous haul) the club had to take to get there.

But it was Hamza Hamzaoğlu’s men who struck first, when the most unassuming of players in Bilal Kisa uncorked a shot from about 30 yards out that twisted and dipped before finally finding its way into the back of the net past Astana keeper Nenad Eric in the 31^st minute; a unforgettable moment for the 32-year-old midfielder, who was making his Champions League debut.

The Turkish giants took that 1-0 lead into the half, and looked satisfied with playing behind the ball for the remainder of the match, with Astana continuing to push men forward in the hopes of finding an equalizer in the second half. It wasn’t long after a wasted opportunity by Foxi Kéthévoama in the 66^th minute when the home side finally found the back of the next thanks to a fortuitous bounce off the leg of an unlucky Hakan Balta whose own goal sent the Astana Arena into a frenzy.

It wouldn’t last long, however, as Eric allowed an own goal nine minutes later after failing to fully save Sinan Gumus’ shot four minutes from time; that put the visitors up one again. The home crowd didn’t despair though, and almost as if from a fairytale, Astana, with the ceaseless, pulsating energy of the crowd behind them, fought back and found yet another equalizer in the 89^th minute courtesy of a quite remarkable header by the Colombian Roger Cañas (which was officially scored as a third-consecutive own goal—this one by the Frenchman Lionel Carole, who barely helped the ball into the net) to unleash the second Kazakh eruption of the night.

Minutes later, the final whistle sounded. Astana has secured their precious point.

The reigning Kazakh Premier League champions still sit in last place in their group, but are even with Galatasaray with four matches to play. Two of those matches will come at home with back-to-back November fixtures against Atlético Madrid, and current group leaders Benfica. In what will surely be vastly chillier conditions—Astana being the world’s second-coldest capital after Ulaanbaatar—the Blue and Yellows, whose cosmopolitan makeup blends 17 Kazakhs with a Bosnian, a Serbian, a Ghanian, a Ukrainian, a Slovenian, a Russian, a Colombian, a Central African Republican, and a Congolese striker, should take full advantage from their stronghold in the East. Respective 10-hour flights lay ahead of both Atlético and Benfica.

Astana, of course, will still have to make one of those trips themselves when they travel to Madrid in mid-October—though it may take a bit longer going against the jet-stream—but played well in a 2-0 defeat to Benfica in the group’s opening game, and will close things out with now familiar Galatasaray on December 8 in Istanbul.

The Round of 16 is still a ways away for FC Astana, but they have already made a giant step forward for the minnows that they are. And rest assured, when Atlético comes to town on November 3, the Kazakh champs can take their boost of confidence from this night and be assured that they have what it takes to compete in this league, and that their rollicking fans will support them until the death. They celebrated this evening as if the draw were a victory. That’s because in many ways, it was.