Trabzonspor have thrown their hat into the ring in the race for the Turkish league title. The Bordo-Mavililer won the crunch home fixture against Galatasaray 2-1 and are now just one point behind the leaders, who still have a game in hand. Fenerbahçe, who are three points behind Trabzonspor, have also played one game fewer than Fatih Tekke’s side.
For Trabzonspor, André Onana was, of course, between the posts. The Cameroonian had kept a clean sheet in the previous two matches and is in fine form. Galatasaray had to do without key players Victor Osimhen, Gabriel Sara and Leroy Sané. However, Noa Lang started on the left wing.
Given Trabzonspor’s excellent form, Galatasaray knew they were in for a tough ride. The match was barely four minutes old when the home side struck. Wagner Pina swung in a cross to the head of Paul Onuachu, who neatly nodded the ball into the far corner: 1-0.
In that first half, Trabzonspor failed to extend their lead. Anthony Nwakaeme saw his shot go just wide of the wrong side of the post, whilst Felipe Augusto also shot wide from a promising position.
Just before half-time, Onuachu also saw his second goal of the evening ruled out for offside, keeping Galatasaray in the game. In fact, a few minutes after the break, Wilfried Singo met a pinpoint cross from Baris Alper Yilmaz at the far post: 1-1.
Galatasaray’s joy was short-lived, however. Just over an hour into the game, Chibuike Nwaiwu flicked on a measured free-kick from Nwakaeme past the helpless Ugurcan Çakir into the far corner: 2-1.
Oleksandr Zubkov then had a chance to make it 3-1, but his shot on goal was deflected onto the post at the last moment by former Ajax player Davinson Sánchez. A nail-biting finale ensued, but there were no further goals.