Calhanoglu: "I was focused when I stepped up to take the penalty"

“For the first time, I felt a bit of pressure when I stepped up to take the penalty. I’ve taken plenty in the past, but today I was very focused. Okoye is very tall, so I decided to hit it hard and low. The closer objectives get, the more the tension rises. Sometimes, you can get nervous because you want to win. Udinese sat back and tried to hit us on the counter, while we had chances but failed to score. Just like we did against Roma, we returned to the pitch for the second half with plenty of hunger and wanted to win this match. ”

“We don’t want to slow down; anything can happen in football. We give everything in every training session and pushed until the very end today. This will also be important in our next match as we pursue a very clear objective. In the first half, I gave the ball away and they scored from it. I was looking to set up an attack and I perhaps need to be a bit calmer, but I had our objective and the desire to win in mind. I don’t usually make such mistakes, but the important thing was to stay focused when I stepped up to take the penalty because we found ourselves in a critical situation. I’m only focused on my teammates and would like to thank the fans. The past doesn’t matter: in football, winning is important. All the rest is just background noise.”