Fenerbahçe 3-1 Trabzonspor
An energetic performance in a high tempo game earned us a 3-1 win over Trabzonspor at home tonight. Ümit Özat, Pierre van Hooijdonk and Marcio Nobre grabbed the goals to lead us to victory.
There were notable changes by Head Coach Christoph Daum which were previewed in the cup game on Thursday. Selçuk started near the right wing, with Aurelio and captain Ümit playing in the centre of the field. Ýsmail kept his place at left back.
Both teams looked well motivated for the game played in front of a passionate crowd at the Þükrü Saraçoðlu Stadium. Trabzonspor were out to defend their unbeaten away record this season while we were keen to maintain the difference at five points to leaders Beþiktaþ.
Controlling most of the play, a hard working midfield produced the first goal of the evening as Ümit Özat`s darting run after sleek passing was picked out by van Hooijdonk, controlled well by the captain before he half-volleyed into the goal with just under half an hour gone.
Superb technique was shown in the 34th minute by the on-form van Hooijdonk with a first time volley onto Aurelio`s cross from outside the area that found the target, 2-0.
With minutes to go to the half time whistle, Trabzonspor got a lifeline through Fatih Tekke`s finish onto a neat pass by Gökdeniz.
But soon into the second half a goal was gifted to us by Trabzon`s keeper Petkovic, who failed to control a spinning ball into the area and left Marcio Nobre with an easy finish.
Tuncay stood out with an exceptionally high work rate throughout the game, sometimes helping his defence with his timely interceptions.
However, the quality of football decreased towards the end of the game due to obvious fatigue in both sides. Daum tried to compensate for this with the introduction of Mehmet for his first appearance in a Fenerbahçe shirt. The debutant showed his nerves but looked enthusiastic to the delight of the fans.
FENERBAHÇE: Volkan, Ali Güneþ (72` Mehmet Yozgatlý), Luciano, Tomas, Ýsmail, Aurelio, Ümit, Selçuk, Tuncay (88` Mahmut Hanefi), Pierre van Hooijdonk, Marcio Nobre (90+4` Servet)
TRABZONSPOR: Petkoviç, Emrah (84` Yattara), D`Haene, Erdinç, Volkan, Ýbrahim, Hüseyin, Sommers, Gökdeniz, Fatih, Augustine (77` Mehmet Yýlmaz)
Goals: 27` Ümit, 33` Pierre van Hooijdonk, 45` Fatih Tekke, 50` Marcio Nobre
