Mohamed Salah scored a hat trick and assisted another as Trabzonspor handed defending champions Galatasaray their first defeat of the Turkish Süper Lig season with a 4-0 victory Saturday, giving new manager Thomas Reis a triumphant start to his tenure.
Reis took charge of Trabzonspor earlier in the week following the departure of former head coach Fatih Tekke. The German manager oversaw just two days of training before guiding the Black Sea club to a dominant home performance against their Istanbul rivals.
With the victory, Trabzonspor moved up to fifth place in the Süper Lig standings with 10 points from six matches, pulling within three points of league leaders Galatasaray.
Salah set the tone early at the stadium, opening the scoring in the fourth minute. The Egyptian star latched onto a clearance in midfield, raced behind the Galatasaray defense and calmly slotted a low finish past goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır.
Salah nearly doubled the advantage five minutes later when he found space inside the penalty box, though his effort went just wide of the post.
Trabzonspor extended their lead in the 39th minute through a clinical team combination. Salah turned provider, sliding a pass into the right side of the box for Noah Saviolo, who struck a low shot into the bottom corner.
The hosts effectively put the match out of reach just before halftime. In the 44th minute, Franculino Dju dispossessed Galatasaray defender Davinson Sanchez deep in opposition territory and played the ball to Salah, who applied a composed, low finish from inside the area to send Trabzonspor into the break with a 3-0 lead.
Galatasaray struggled to mount a comeback in the second half as frustration mounted on the visitors' bench. Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk was sent off in the 71st minute after receiving a red card for protesting a refereeing decision.
Salah completed his hat trick in the 80th minute in spectacular fashion. After receiving a pass from Ozan Tufan, the forward broke into the box on the right following an unchallenged run from his own half before placing a signature side-footed finish beyond Çakır.
Galatasaray were reduced to 10 men in the 85th minute when Lesley Ugochukwu was sent off following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review. Ugochukwu had initially received a yellow card for a foul on Tufan, but the penalty was upgraded to a direct red card.
Speaking after the match, Reis praised his squad's tactical discipline and immediate adaptation to his instructions.
"I would like to start by expressing how happy I am," Reis said. "We only had a two-day period before having the opportunity to go into this match with the team. I can say that we showed a performance that was very high and very good, perhaps to a degree that was not expected of us. There was good defense, there was good offense. It was a very important victory for us. I think we delivered a truly important performance."
"I must also express this: I am very happy for our fans as well ... this is an important and very special victory for me. There is a short break now. After resting a bit, we will continue working again and hopefully continue on our path in the same way," he added.
Reis emphasized the collective effort of the squad, noting that while Salah’s individual brilliance was decisive, the victory was built on team unity and defensive stability.
"We spoke briefly with our players before the match, got their thoughts, and chatted with them," Reis added. "We have teammates who are much more experienced than me as players, who have gained a lot of experience. We have players who have played at the Champions League level, at very top levels. Of course, they are also very valuable players. They made incredible contributions. Naturally, I am very happy to be Mohamed Salah's coach. But at the same time, our defensive players, our midfielders, everyone did a great job. They helped him a lot."
In other Süper Lig action on Saturday, Başakşehir recorded a resounding 4-0 home victory against Gençlerbirliği.
Meanwhile, Kocaelispor secured a 2-0 home win over Gaziantep and Alanyaspor earned a 2-1 away victory against Çorum FK.
