As the Turkish Super League enters week 24, Trabzonspor will host an exhausted Beşiktaş side on Monday at Medical Park Stadium. The Black Eagles will have to overcome the fatigue of a busy week if they want to stay in the title race. Trabzonspor, on the other hand, will look for three crucial points that can help it move up to fifth place – the cut off to get into the UEFA Europa League. Beşiktaş faced Istanbul giants Fenerbahçe twice last week, first in a Super League matchup and then in the Ziraat Turkish Cup semi-finals. It won the first tie 3-1 while the second match, which was much more eventful, ended in a 2-2 stalemate.
The Turkish Cup match at Vodafone Park, Beşiktaş's home turf, saw three red cards as players from both teams seemingly lost control. The Yellow Canaries' midfielder Alper Potuk saw his second yellow card in the 44th minute, leaving his team with ten men. In the 52nd minute, Ricardo Quaresma was sent off after a brawl broke out between the players of the two teams. The match was interrupted for 10 minutes. In the 76th minute, Fenerbahçe was left with just nine players after its goalkeeper Volkan Demirel saw a second yellow before being sent off. Beşiktaş piled up the pressure and found the equalizing goal in the 82nd minute but failed to push for a winning goal. Fenerbahçe will now go into the second leg with an away goal advantage.
As for the Super League, Fenerbahçe will host Akhisar Belediyespor on Sunday. The race for the league title is being closely fought with league leaders Galatasaray and second-placed Medipol Başakşehir tied with 47 points apiece, while third and fourth placed Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe are also tied with 44 points.
