Ernest Muçi Drives Trabzonspor's Stunning Rize Comeback

Forty-five minutes from a famous win, Rizespor ended the night with nothing: no points, no lead, and no manager on the touchline. Trabzonspor overturned a 2–0 half-time deficit to win 4–3 at Çaykur Didi Stadyumu. The Turkish press quickly placed this seven-goal Black Sea derby among the most dramatic turnarounds of the season.

The architect was Ernest Muçi. Subdued before the break, he set up three of Trabzonspor's four goals and started the move for the other. Franculino Djú scored twice, including the 83rd-minute winner. By the end, Rizespor manager Recep Uçar had been sent off and his bench was demanding answers from the officials.

Gennaro Borrelli punishes Trabzonspor with a first-half brace

For half an hour, the afternoon belonged to Gennaro Borrelli. On his first Süper Lig start for Rizespor, he opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Ibrahim Olawoyin sent Mithat Pala down the right channel, Pala cut into the box and drilled a low cross to the near post, and Borrelli arrived to side-foot it first time past André Onana.

The second goal, on 32 minutes, came from a fast break. Adedire Emmanuel Awokoya-Mebude squared the ball low across the area and Borrelli swept it in. Those were his first goals for the club. They were also Rizespor's first league goals at home all season, after three home matches without scoring.

They were significant for the visitors too. These were the first Süper Lig goals Trabzonspor had conceded under Thomas Reis, who had started his league tenure with three straight clean sheets. Rizespor's lead came from efficiency rather than control. They had 47% of the ball and only nine shots all game, but six of those were on target and three went in.

Ernest Muçi ignites Trabzonspor's eight-minute storm

Whatever was said at half-time, Muçi carried it onto the pitch. Four minutes after the restart, Mohamed Salah played him into the right side of the area. Muçi beat his marker, drew Yahia Fofana off his line and squared across the six-yard box, leaving Melih Kabasakal an empty net at the back post.

Two minutes later the scores were level. Muçi collected the ball in central midfield, shrugged off a defender with a body feint and slid a ground pass between the lines for Aral Şimşir, who beat Fofana one-on-one.

On 57 minutes the turnaround was complete. Muçi's shot was parried and Franculino Djú turned it home on the goal line. Three goals in eight minutes had erased everything Rizespor built before the break. Trabzonspor finished with 14 attempts to Rizespor's nine, seven of them on target, and in this spell the pressure finally told.

Qazim Laçi revives Rizespor before Franculino has the final word

Rizespor did not fold. In the 68th minute, Awokoya-Mebude laid the ball off at the edge of the area and Qazim Laçi beat Onana from distance to make it 3–3. It was Laçi's third league goal of the season in nine appearances and Awokoya-Mebude's second assist of the night.

For a quarter of an hour, a point looked possible. Then Muçi lofted a long pass from his own half over the Rizespor defensive line. Franculino controlled it on the bounce, surged into the left channel of the box and drove a left-footed shot into the corner.

That was his fourth league goal of the season in only six appearances, and he has now scored in three of Trabzonspor's last six league games. Once again, though, the decisive moment began with the man supplying him. Muçi's third assist settled the derby.

Recep Uçar sees red as Rizespor turn on the officials

The frustration on the home bench spilled over in the 90th minute. Uçar was shown a second yellow card for protesting about calls that had not gone Rizespor's way, and he was sent off.

The grievances were specific. Rizespor's bench argued that Trabzonspor midfielder Fabinho should have received a second yellow card in the first half. They also claimed a handball by the visitors should have produced a penalty. After the final whistle they criticised referee Halil Umut Meler and VAR official Erkan Engin, demanding to know why neither the caution nor a VAR intervention came.

Whatever the merits of those complaints, the table offers Rizespor no comfort. This was a third straight league defeat and a fourth consecutive home loss this season, and they sit 13th on 10 points. Their first half showed what they are capable of. What followed it should worry them just as much.

Trabzonspor, by contrast, are gathering pace. A fourth straight league win lifts them to 19 points and third place. Reis has now won all six of his matches in charge across all competitions, including four from four in the Süper Lig, and this came days after a European victory over Heart of Midlothian. This time a comeback was needed to keep his record intact. That they produced one away from home, in a derby, may reveal more about this side than any clean sheet did.