Hearts' European opponents send a warning as Trabzonspor fans party in the street after Besiktas win
The UEFA Conference League tie is at Papara Park on Thursday
Thousands of Turkish fans partied in the streets of Trabzon as Hearts’ next opponents prepared for Thursday’s UEFA Conference League tie with a rousing win over Besiktas. Monday’s evening’s Super Lig match at Papara Park brought an inspired 2-0 victory for the hosts, with goals from Ozan Tufan and Mo Salah.
The result propelled Trabzonspor to fourth place in the table and gave recently-appointed coach Thomas Reis his fourth straight win in all competitions since replacing Fatih Tekke last month. Supporters are revelling in the German’s early success and many of them spilled into Trabzon city centre at full-time on Monday evening. Victories over any of the Istanbul giants are always cause for celebration.
Reis is now preparing his team to face Hearts on Thursday evening after watching them issue a warning over how tough an opponent they are. Since he took charge, Trabzonspor have beaten Galatasaray 4-0, Samsunspor 3-0, KuPS 4-2 and now Besiktas 2-0. “We played an interesting match against a strong opponent like Besiktas,” he said. “We secured our third consecutive victory. However, we must remain humble and keep our feet firmly on the ground. It is very difficult to earn points in every match.
“We played in Finland last week, which was a long journey. We went through a very intense period. Therefore, I congratulate my team. I also thank our fans. They provided incredible support. We need their help in difficult times. We are all proud to have won today.
“The turning point of the match was that we scored more goals than our opponent. I don't think it would be right to single out one player. I've said before that Besiktas is not a bad team, on the contrary, it's a very good team. However, I constantly tell my players that we need to defend well in difficult moments.
“[Goalkeeper] André Onana had a very good performance for our team today. He made a great contribution, especially with his saves in critical moments. I can say that our belief that we would win the match increased even more after we scored our second goal. Every match has its turning points and difficult moments. Today was no exception. That's why having a good goalkeeper was so important for us.
“Retreating in the second half was definitely not part of our plan. However, sometimes when players are 1-0 up, they unintentionally focus more on defense, thinking the opponent will start the second half better. They thought Besiktas would want to put pressure on them.
“We made some mistakes in our passes and lost the ball easily. Despite this, we made good use of our counter-attacks and scored the second goal. Of course, we will work on this aspect. Now we need to enjoy the victory and prepare for the tough match we will play on Thursday.”
Reis has instilled his own playing style and made Trabzonspor strong in defence and lethal on the counter-attack. “In my playing style, transition play is more prominent,” he explained. “Therefore, players need to run more and train accordingly. It takes some time for this change to settle in, but we are showing improvement. I think we put in a good performance today. I am pleased with our players' running and their performance on the field. In the match in Finland, we ran a total of 122 kilometres. I believe this shows that our team is physically ready for any challenge.”
Reis is the first foreign coach in Trabzonspor history to win his first three Super Lig matches. “It would be a great feeling for me to go down in history as a coach, but the real credit here belongs to our players,” he commented. “I am only a part of this history. It is our players who achieved this success on the field and put up a great fight. Therefore, what matters to me is the team's success.”
“I know how the world of football works. One week you win and you're seen as a good manager, the next week you lose and you're seen as a bad manager. I experienced this before at my old team. After a good season, I was sacked after losing a few games. Therefore, what we need to do is work hard and continue to improve. We have important matches ahead. We will be back on the pitch on Thursday and then again on Monday. We are in a good position right now and we want to continue progressing in this way.”
Turkish media lavished praise on Reis and Trabzonspor in the wake of the Besiktas result. Uğur Meleke wrote in the daily newspaper Hurriyet: “The biggest change in Trabzon's game is that the ball is no longer unnecessarily lifted into the air. There aren't dozens of pointless crosses just because [Paul] Onuachu is in the starting line-up. In the last Konya match under Fatih Tekke, Trabzon made 27 crosses. This number dropped to eight against Galatasaray and 10 against Samsun.
“Yesterday, against Besiktas, we saw a team that used the wings but generally preferred ground passes. Legendary manager Brian Clough famously said: ‘If God wanted us to play in the air, he would have allowed us to build a goal in the sky.' Thomas Reis also rejected this sky-based game.”
Cemal Ersen praised Salah in another newspaper, Milliyet. He wrote. “Could there be a match without mentioning Mohamed Salah? Even though he sometimes played a ghost-like role during the game, the Egyptian star once again showed where he needed to be for finishing touches.”