Ten-man Trabzonspor stun Metalist to advance
Thursday, November 27, 2014
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Trabzonspor AŞ 3-1 FC Metalist Kharkiv
The home side's hopes looked to be over when Carl Medjani was sent off but two goals in the last ten minutes sent them through.
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• Ten-man Trabzonspor strike twice in the last ten minutes to seal progress
• Centre-back Essaid Belkalem registers his third goal of the season
• Metalist on target to become the third club to go through a group stage without a point
• Next games: Metalist v Lokeren, Legia v Trabzonspor (11 December)
Ersun Yanal rounded off a memorable first week as Trabzonspor AŞ boss with a dramatic 3-1 victory over FC Metalist Kharkiv that secured a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Yanal enjoyed a fine debut in the dugout in Saturday's 3-0 win at Galatasaray AŞ. His home bow was less emphatic but no less spectacular. The game looked up when Volodymyr Homenyuk cancelled out Essaid Belkalem's first-half header and Carl Medjani was sent off 13 minutes from time. The excellent Mehmet Ekici had other ideas, side-footing in from the edge of the box. Metalist's misery was complete when Sefa Yilmaz's shot came back off the post and hit keeper Olexandr Goryainov before rolling in.
The first half had been low key and tentative until Belkalem's more forceful approach brought the opening goal on 36 minutes. Mehmet's corner was tidy enough, but veteran Goryainov opted too late to come and claim it and was helpless as the ball headed by Belkalem arrowed past him. Yanal, who led Fenerbahçe SK to the Turkish title last season, must have been wondering what all the fuss was about.
The answer came early in the second period when his defence temporarily disappeared, allowing Jajá to square for Pavlo Rebenok, all of two metres out. He speared over when it seemed easier to score. Rebenok made amends by teeing up Homenyuk for the 68th-minute equaliser, and Medjani's departure could have made damage limitation the objective for Trabzonspor. This has been Yanal's week, though.