Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi has praised Besiktas for their performance against Crystal Palace after scoring in their 2-2 draw in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, Footynaija.com reports.
The Nigerian midfielder opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time at the Tupras Stadium in Istanbul, but Besiktas had to settle for a point after Crystal Palace fought back before substitute Junior Olaitan secured the hosts a share of the spoils.
Speaking after the encounter, Ndidi described the contest as a good match, admitting that the Black Eagles needed time to find their rhythm before growing into the game.
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“I can say it was a good match today,” Ndidi said, as quoted by Ajansspor.
“We started slowly in the first half, but we gained momentum and scored the goal. The same thing happened in the second half. Overall, it was a good match.
“Besiktas is a great club. We are showing ourselves against teams coming from big leagues. We are on the right track, everyone is working hard. Everyone is fighting. Everything is going great.”
After scoring the opening goal, Ndidi celebrated by pointing towards the number on the back of his jersey. The Nigerian midfielder went on to explain the meaning behind his goal celebration, revealing that he was simply congratulating himself for finding the net.
“Actually, I was congratulating myself, saying ‘bravo’ to myself,” he explained.
Ndidi broke the deadlock in the 45th minute of the contest, finishing a pass from Salih Ozcan with a left-footed effort into the bottom corner for his first goal of the season.
Crystal Palace responded after the interval, with Yeremy Pino equalising before Jean-Philippe Mateta put the visitors ahead. Besiktas eventually drew level through Olaitan in the 73rd minute, despite later being reduced to 10 men following Umit Akdag’s dismissal.
Ndidi completed the match as Besiktas held on for a point, to maintain their unbeaten start to the league phase of this season’s Europa League campaign.
