Fatih Karagumruk’s impressive start in the 2021-22 Turkish Super Lig season came to an end following a 1-0 defeat to Besiktas on Saturday night.
Parading Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa and Morocco’s Medhi Benatia, the Black Red were unable to overcome Sergen Yalcin’s men, who played with ten players for the majority of the second half.
Both teams came into the game having settled for 0-0 draws their last time out. For Karagumruk, they travelled to Istanbul’s Vodafone Park hoping to extend their unbeaten run.
However, it was the hosts who imposed their authority from the blast of referee Cuneyt Cakir’s whistle.
Their tenacity paid off on the half-hour mark courtesy of new signing Alex Teixeira. The 31-year-old Brazilian fired an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano from outside the goal area.
Fuelled by their lead, Besiktas probed further in search of a second goal but they bungled several scoring opportunities despite creating numerous chances.
Three minutes into the second half, their lead suffered a massive setback as Salih Ucan was given his marching orders after receiving a second booking.
Playing with just ten men, manager Yalcin had to change tactics and opted for a more defensive plan.
Even at that, the visiting side failed to get the equaliser in the remaining minutes of the match as the Black Eagles won all three points on offer.
Super Eagles captain Musa and Morocco international Benatia were on parade from start to finish for Francesco Farioli’s team.
For Besiktas, Algeria international Rachid Ghezzal saw every minute of action while Congolese defender Fabrice Nsakala – who collapsed against Gaziantep FK – was not dressed for action by manager Yalcin.
With this defeat, Karagumruk dropped to tenth in the Turkish elite division log after accruing just four points in three games, while Besiktas occupy the summit with seven points from the same number of games.
Musa is expected to join the rest of Gernot Rohr’s squad for September’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers as Nigeria try Liberia and Cape Verde for size.
Fatih Karagumruk would be aiming to bounce back to winning ways when they square up against Adana Demirspor on September 11.