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Eagles drop points in Sivas, no end in sight to slump
Buy you can’t always get what you want, and so the Eagles had to make do with a point after a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
The Eagles, like in Sunday’s match against Fenerbahçe which they lost 2-0, were also depleted at Sivas due to a rash of injuries and suspensions.
Portugal playmaker Ricardo Quaresma was suspended, while striker Hugo Almeida, goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber and defenders Roberto Hilbert, İsmail Köybaşı and Atınç Nukan as well as midfielders Julio Alves and Mehmet Aurelio were sidelined due to various injuries.
Beşiktaş’s Portuguese coach Carlos, apparently angry at the performance of some of his players on Sunday, decided to bench defender Ersan Gülüm and midfielder Simao Sabrosa. Also not in the starting XI were defenders Sidnei da Silva, Mehmet Akyüz and striker Edu.
Eagles score first
Though reduced to the bare bones, the Eagles started pretty well at 4 Eylül Stadium on Thursday. And even the rough and slippery surface -- coupled with the biting cold -- could not dampen the enthusiasm of the players, who attacked from left, right and center immediately after kickoff.
After a series of near misses, Beşiktaş broke the deadlock in the 42nd, when Czech defender Tomas Sivok headed home a Manuel Fernandes free kick to put the Eagles 1-0 up. Midfielder Erman Kılıç equalized for Sivasspor five minutes before relegation time (85th) to rob the Eagles of victory.
The result means the Eagles are winless in four consecutive league matches and have only earned a single point out of a possible 12. This, indeed, is nothing near championship form. Furthermore, the Sivas draw does not bode well for the Eagles’ team morale ahead of their Europa League round of 32 first leg match against Portuguese side Braga next Tuesday.
Carvalhal all along has been talking about the playoffs all along, not about finishing first in the Super League. But judging by Beşiktaş’s performance in the last four matches, finishing in the top four in the league and qualifying for the playoffs is now something akin to a mission impossible.
“Just as in the last match [on Sunday], we obtained a result that was not worthy of our efforts,” Carvalhal said. “We only scored one goal in the first half, whereas it ought to have been something like three or four,” he lamented.
And if we may add, Mr. Carvalhal, lamentation will not solve this problem. Thou can only win in football if thou outscoreth thy opponent, and it is that simple.
Yiğidoğlar eye playoffs
For the Yiğidoğlar (Brave men), as Sivasspor is popularly called, the draw has boosted their chances for a spot in the four-team playoffs that will take place at the end of the regular season. Sivasspor (11-9-6) now has 42 points, and that’s a great achievement for a small Central Anatolian team operating on a shoestring budget.
“Beşiktaş played well in the first half, but we dominated the second,” said Sivas coach Rıza Çalımbay, a former Beşiktaş winger and captain. “And I congratulate the players of both teams because the pitch was really rough and slippery,” he noted.
Elsewhere on Thursday, resurgent Kardemir Karabükspor drew 2-2 with 10-man İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in a match that was postponed in week 24 due to heavy snowfall in İstanbul.
Bülent Korkmaz’s Kardemir Karabükspor hosts Fenerbahçe on Sunday, while İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor will be entertaining relegated-guaranteed Ankaragücü on the same day.
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