Gökhan helps Trabzon escape Eskişehir scare
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Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 22, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - It was not the best of starts in the last game of 2008, but Trabzonspor manages to end the Eskişehirspor game, and the first part of the season, positively thanks to a pair of goals from Gökhan Ünal. Questionable refereeing standards highlighted the night as well
Title contender Trabzonspor ended the year on a high, beating Eskişehirspor 2-1 on Saturday in the Turkcell Super League.
Trabzonspor survived a one-goal advantage by Eskişehirspor, thanks to a double by Gökhan Ünal.
Eskişehirspor took the lead in the 24th minute, when Brazilian player Anderson Dos Santos tapped the ball in, following a cross from Serdar Özbayraktar.
Trabzonspor came close to leveling the game four minutes after the goal, when referee Fırat Aydınus awarded a penalty for the Black Sea side. The penalty decision was disagreed and harshly protested by the visiting players, who thought that Umut Bulut was not fouled at all.
Yattara misses penalty
Ibrahima Yattara could not convert the penalty to goal, but that did not stop the anger of the Eskişehirspor chairman, Halil Ünal. For Ünal, this was a result of Trabzonspor’s weeklong protests’ influence on the referee. Trabzonspor board and fans heavily criticized last week’s referee in the Bursaspor game, after television replays proved that Bursa’s last-minute winning goal was clearly from an offside poisiton.
"You cannot see a penalty whistle like that," said Ünal. "Perhaps we should start a war on referees, too."
However, the fact that there was nothing dubious about Gökhan Ünal’s two classy goals in 36th and 76th minutes was a consolation for Trabzonspor. Ending six weeks of drought with a double, Gökhan was utterly relieved.
"I had my adaptation period and lacked match practice, but the Eskişehir game is my starting point," the Turkish international said. "You will see a better Gökhan Ünal from now on."
Coach Ersun Yanal was happy that his team played positively and won the game.
"We are a team with high energy and we have the power to put the pressure on our opponents from the start until the end of the game," he said. "Today we conceded a goal but turned things around with a lot of pressure."
Yanal also complained that teams are always blaming the referees in times of failure.
"There are a lot of pressure on referees," he said. "There is no need for the referees to be talked about this much. Of course they can make mistakes, but it will be better if each team feels that everyone can suffer from those mistakes equally."
Friday night’s Konyaspor-Fenerbahçe game saw a row about refereeing as well. Fenerbahçe’s opening goal came from a handball by Önder Turacı, after Konya goalkeeper Oğuzhan Bahadır’s clearance struck the defender’s arm. Referee Kuddusi Müftüoğlu had a hard time to judge the position but eventually called for a goal, much to the grief of the home team fans. Fenerbahçe won the game 2-1.
The crucial Galatasaray-Beşiktaş derby was still in progress when the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to press.
Trabzonspor survived a one-goal advantage by Eskişehirspor, thanks to a double by Gökhan Ünal.
Eskişehirspor took the lead in the 24th minute, when Brazilian player Anderson Dos Santos tapped the ball in, following a cross from Serdar Özbayraktar.
Trabzonspor came close to leveling the game four minutes after the goal, when referee Fırat Aydınus awarded a penalty for the Black Sea side. The penalty decision was disagreed and harshly protested by the visiting players, who thought that Umut Bulut was not fouled at all.
Yattara misses penalty
Ibrahima Yattara could not convert the penalty to goal, but that did not stop the anger of the Eskişehirspor chairman, Halil Ünal. For Ünal, this was a result of Trabzonspor’s weeklong protests’ influence on the referee. Trabzonspor board and fans heavily criticized last week’s referee in the Bursaspor game, after television replays proved that Bursa’s last-minute winning goal was clearly from an offside poisiton.
"You cannot see a penalty whistle like that," said Ünal. "Perhaps we should start a war on referees, too."
However, the fact that there was nothing dubious about Gökhan Ünal’s two classy goals in 36th and 76th minutes was a consolation for Trabzonspor. Ending six weeks of drought with a double, Gökhan was utterly relieved.
"I had my adaptation period and lacked match practice, but the Eskişehir game is my starting point," the Turkish international said. "You will see a better Gökhan Ünal from now on."
Coach Ersun Yanal was happy that his team played positively and won the game.
"We are a team with high energy and we have the power to put the pressure on our opponents from the start until the end of the game," he said. "Today we conceded a goal but turned things around with a lot of pressure."
Yanal also complained that teams are always blaming the referees in times of failure.
"There are a lot of pressure on referees," he said. "There is no need for the referees to be talked about this much. Of course they can make mistakes, but it will be better if each team feels that everyone can suffer from those mistakes equally."
Friday night’s Konyaspor-Fenerbahçe game saw a row about refereeing as well. Fenerbahçe’s opening goal came from a handball by Önder Turacı, after Konya goalkeeper Oğuzhan Bahadır’s clearance struck the defender’s arm. Referee Kuddusi Müftüoğlu had a hard time to judge the position but eventually called for a goal, much to the grief of the home team fans. Fenerbahçe won the game 2-1.
The crucial Galatasaray-Beşiktaş derby was still in progress when the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to press.