Mohamed Salah leads Trabzonspor to a 4-0 victory over Galatasaray in the Turkish Super League summit
Amman4 min read
Share
Egyptian star Mohamed Salah led Trabzonspor to a significant victory over visiting Galatasaray, the reigning champions, with a 4-0 scoreline, on Saturday, at the "Babaca Park" stadium, in the summit of the sixth round of the Turkish Super League football competition.
Salah delivered an impressive performance, scoring a hat-trick and assisting another goal, leading his team to quickly regain balance after their loss to Konyaspor in the previous round, which was the first official match for German coach Thomas Reis, who took over the team in place of Fatih Tekke.
Trabzonspor raised their points to 10, advancing to fifth place, while Galatasaray's points remained frozen at 13 after their first loss of the season, temporarily remaining at the top of the standings by one point ahead of Besiktas, who will visit Amed Spor on Sunday.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring early for the home team in the fourth minute, taking advantage of a quick counter-attack after receiving a long pass from Mustafa Eskhellatch, launching from the center line, before entering the penalty area and shooting a right-footed ground ball into the net.
Salah almost added a second goal five minutes later, when he received a ball inside the penalty area and skillfully got rid of a defender before shooting with his right hand, but his shot went just past the right post of Galatasaray's goal.
As time passed, Galatasaray organized their ranks and intensified their offensive pressure in search of a tie, and Colombian Davinson Sanchez almost equalized in the 18th minute, after heading a ball from a close distance, following a cross from Abdul Karim Bardakji after a corner kick, but it went just over the crossbar.
Trabzonspor's Cameroonian goalkeeper, Andre Onana, shone and saved his team's goal from a certain goal, after blocking a powerful shot by Senegalese Ismail Jacobs from inside the penalty area, touching the ball with his fingertips before it hit the crossbar and went out for a corner kick.
Salah played the role of the playmaker, sending a cross to Belgian Noah Safoilo, who shot a skillful right-footed ground ball from the left side of the penalty area, scoring the second goal for the home team in the 39th minute.
Before the end of the first half, Trabzonspor extended their lead with a third goal in the 44th minute, after Guinean Frankolino Djo exploited a serious mistake by Davinson Sanchez and passed the ball to Salah inside the penalty area, who put it in the net with his left foot.
In the second half, Galatasaray continued their offensive pressure in search of a result, and Hungarian Roland Salai shot a powerful ball from inside the penalty area after a pass from German Leroy Sane, which Onana saved in the 50th minute.
Mohamed Salah established himself as the star of the match by completing the hat-trick by scoring the fourth goal for Trabzonspor in the 80th minute, in a carbon copy of his first goal, taking advantage of a long pass from Ozan Tufan from a quick counter-attack, launching towards the goal and shooting the ball to the right of the goalkeeper into the net.
Salah raised his tally to 7 goals in 6 matches with Trabzonspor, leading the scorers' list by one goal ahead of Nigerians Gift Emmanuel Oroban, Amed Spor's striker, and Victor Osimhen, Galatasaray's striker.
The visitors' situation became complicated in the 86th minute when they were forced to continue the match with ten players after their French player Chemonia Ojoshukuo was sent off after a VAR review, following a violent intervention on Ozan Tufan.
Mohamed Salah left the field after being substituted in the 89th minute amid the encouragement and cheers of Trabzonspor's fans for his excellent performance in the match, after which the team maintained their lead until the end of the match.
