Uefa Conference League third qualifying round, first leg: St Patrick’s Athletic 1 (Power 49) Besiktas 4 (Joao Mario 8, Abraham 14, 23, 43)
An unintended consequence of Evan Ferguson landing in Roma on loan for the season was visited upon St Patrick’s Athletic at Tallaght Stadium.
The opportunity only opened for Ferguson to revive his career in Italy after Tammy Abraham demanded an exit from the Giallorossi.
The rangy English striker landed in Istanbul, where he is set for a prolific run in the Turkish Super Lig with the chance to make the move permanent at a bargain price of €13 million.
Abraham had his hat-trick by half-time.
RM Block
After the third goal, a penalty he coolly slotted past Joseph Anang, the former Chelsea forward turned to the dugout to assure his manager Ole GOle Gunnar Solskjaer everything was going to be just fine.
There will be no need for Roy Keane to catch a flight from Manchester to Oslo, rent a car and set off on a seven-hour drive to his old teammate’s hometown of Kristiansund. That’s what Keane did when Manchester United sacked Solskjaer in 2021.
The Besiktas manager was under pressure since Shakhtar Donetsk relegated them last week from the Europa League to the Conference League qualifiers. Clearly, they belong at a higher level.
With a team stacked full of internationals who shined at Euro 2024, Besiktas were runaway favourites before kick-off. Inside eight minutes, they had St Pat’s players staring into the void when Joao Mário’s speculative shot from the edge of the box deflected off Joe Redmond and nestled in Anang’s net.
Inside 43 minutes, this two-legged contest was cooked. 4-0. Way beyond the point of no return, the pace of the Turkish players had their Irish opponents bamboozled. There was no outball. No clear route to an isolated Mason Melia.
Jake Mulraney and Simon Power can torch any team – at St Pat’s level – but whenever Besiktas lost the ball all 10 outfield players flowed like water, seamlessly adopting a 5-3-2 formation that invited the wingers to hare down culs-de-sac.
Mostly, St Pat’s were trapped in their own half. Kenny has spoken before about avoiding a low block against superior opponents, but what choice did they have?
Plata O Plomo. Silver or lead. That was the impossible choice offered to St Pat’s against a highly motivated Besiktas.
From the off, Turkish international Orkun Kokcu quietly ran the game from midfield.
The visitors were confident enough to unveil a prematch protest, with T-shirts to highlight the genocide in Gaza: “Stop crimes against humanity – enough is enough.” Fenerbahce made the same gesture before their European game against Feyenoord.
Abraham can score any which way. His first goal was blasted from two yards off a Jonas Svensson cross. The second was a delicious scoop over Anang after Tom Grivosti went to ground early and decided not to tackle from behind. The third was a spot kick to punish Jamie Lennon for kicking him in the box.
It was a harsh, yet correct call. VAR concurred.
St Pat’s refused to be humiliated. Early in the second half, Power came off the left and raced clear to beat Mert Gunok at his near post.
The local contingent in a 7,821 crowd, that was sprinkled with Turkish residents in Ireland, celebrated like the tie was alive and kicking.
It almost was when Melia’s snapshot from close range hit Gunok’s leg in the 55th minute.
At 4-2, Stephen Kenny’s go-for-broke approach would have been rewarded. The former Republic of Ireland manager left St Pat’s wide open as he sought to create mismatches down the left for Power.
The 27-year-old winger has been unplayable at times this season. The second half was one of those times.
Melia also ignored the scoreboard. The Tottenham-bound teenager dropped into pockets to use his close control to release Power and anyone willing to put in the effort. Kian Leavy refused to disappear. As did the evergreen Chris Forrester, who drew a save from Gunok on 75 minutes.
Anang denied Rafa Silva and Keny Arroyo from making it 5-1 with quick reflexes but the contest was already in cruise control.
St Pat’s have not been able to catch a break of late. No team deserves to draw Besiktas in a Conference League qualifier.
Lying sixth in the Premier Division, six points off Derry City in the last European spot with 10 games remaining, the last 45 minutes here must be transferred to Richmond Park when Sligo Rovers visit on Saturday.
There is little to be gained from Thursday’s second-leg in Istanbul, which arguably stacks the entire season on avoiding defeat against Shelbourne in the FAI Cup last 16 tie at Richmond on Sunday week.
St Patrick’s Athletic: Anang; McLaughlin, Redmond, Grivosti (Turner 46), McClelland; Forrester (Baggley 82), Lennon, Leavy (Carty 82); Mulraney (Sjoberg 46), Melia (Kavanagh 88), Power.
Besiktas: Gunok; Svensson (Bingol 46), Paulista, Topcu, Jurasek (Sanuc 90); Tiknaz (Yilmaz 75), Kokcu (Hadžiahmetović); Mário, Silva, Muci (Arroyo 59); Abraham.
Referee: David Smajc (Slovenia).
