Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu and his club Trabzonspor were left disgruntled following a controversial 1-0 defeat to Fenerbahce in a heavyweight Turkish Super Lig clash on Sunday, Footynaija.com reports.
Drama ensued as early as the 11th minute when Onuachu thought he had given Trabzonspor the lead. The towering Nigerian striker bundled the ball home, only for his goal to be overturned after a VAR review.
Onuachu was adjudged to have committed a foul in the build up to his goal but replays showed minimal contact with his marker and it seemed like a legitimate goal had been unfairly chopped off by the officials.
Related Post
Things took an even more dramatic turn just nine minutes later when Okay Yokuslu was shown a straight red card violent conduct after yet another VAR review, leaving Trabzonspor to fight with ten men against a dominant Fenerbahce side.
From that point in the game, it was backs-to-the-wall defending, with debuting goalkeeper Andre Onana producing a string of remarkable saves to keep his side in the contest.
The Cameroon international pulled off eight stops, denying Fred and Sebastian Szymanski with acrobatic efforts, but he was eventually beaten on the stroke of half time when Youssef En-Nesyri tapped in from close range after a cruel deflection.
Strong reactions from Trabzonspor after the game
Despite Onana’s heroics, the main post-match talking point remained Onuachu’s chopped-off strike and the string of controversial decisions. Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Doğan did not mince words in his post-game comments.
“It’s illogical,” he raged during an interview after the game. “It’s hard to understand how they make these decisions. At one point, we even considered pulling the team off the field. No one has the right to do this to anyone. The Trabzonspor club is not a club to be messed with.”
The outrage spread beyond the club hierarchy as Trabzon mayor Ahmet Metin Genc weighed in strongly during the match, taking to social media to accuse officials of foul play.
“The match-fixing is still going on,” he posted on X. “We don’t even know how many people we’re fighting against. 20 minutes of freezing cold, a goal cancelled and a red card. Shame on you and pity on you. Always the greatest Trabzonspor.”
The result of the game saw Fenerbahce leapfrog Trabzonspor to take second spot on the Super Lig table. Both teams are level on 10 points but the Yellow Canaries boast a superior goal difference.
For Onuachu, he would have felt hard done by after being denied his third goal of the season. He’ll certainly be eager to return to the score sheet when Trabzonspor take on Gaziantep next weekend.
