Trabzon downs Beşiktaş in its first derby victory

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Trabzonspor players celebrate a goal during the team’s 2-1 win over Beşiktaş in the Spor Toto Super League. The game was played in front of women and children only.

Trabzonspor scored its first derby goals this season to beat Beşiktaş 2-1 on March 4 and advanced to the third spot in the Spor Toto Super League. The Black Sea Storm was largely dominant in the game against its title-contending rivals but still had to come from behind.

Beşiktaş opened the scoring with a header by Hugo Almeida early in the second half, but Trabzonspor equalized when forward Burak Yılmaz converted a clear chance in the 62nd minute.

Burak Yılmaz, an easy choice for the man of the season with his league-leading 30 goals, was effectual again in the 78th minute when he headed the ball to Gustavo Colman. The Argentine midfielder put the ball into the Beşiktaş net to win the game for Trabzonspor.

The win meant the end of a dismal streak in big games for Trabzonspor, who lost all their meetings with Galatasaray, Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe without scoring a single goal earlier in the season.

It also provided an interesting statistic for last season’s runner-up, who managed to win an away game for the first time this season after conceding a goal.

“We were the better side all along,” Trabzonspor coach Şenol Güneş said to reporters after the game. “It could have been a win with a greater margin. We had many chances there, and gave away too little.”

Far behind
Both teams have 49 points while Trabzonspor jumped to third pushing Beşiktaş to fourth. However, with five matches left in the season, both teams are standing far behind the top two, Galatasaray (63 points) and Fenerbahçe (57).

For Beşiktaş, it meant the continuation of a terrible run in which the Istanbul team won just once in seven weeks.

Beşiktaş captain İbrahim Toraman acknowledged Trabzonspor deserved the victory completely.
“We gave our worst performance this season,” Toraman said in the post-game press conference. “We were not good – from the start to the end. On the other hand, Trabzonspor played well and fought hard.”

Beşiktaş is not giving positive signs ahead of the first leg game of the Europa League round of 16 against Atletico Madrid on March 8.

“We have an important Europa League game ahead,” Toraman said. “We are not on a good level right now. We are not acting as a unit. I hope we improve ahead of the Atletico Madrid game.”

In other games March 4, Bursaspor beat Kardemir Karabükspor 3-0, Gaziantepspor crushed Istanbul BB 5-0 and Kayserispor beat Manisaspor 3-0.

Earlier in the weekend, Fenerbahçe trounced Gençlerbirliği 6-1, Samsunspor got a crucial 2-0 away win at Antalyaspor, Eskişehirspor beat Ankaragücü 5-2 and Mersin İdman Yurdu defeated Orduspor 1-0.