Trabzonspor Sink Beşiktaş as Salah Keeps Reis Perfect

Mohamed Salah spent a large part of the summer in talks with Beşiktaş. On Monday night, in the shirt of the club he joined on a free transfer once those negotiations collapsed, he scored the goal that finished them off.

Trabzonspor's 2–0 win at Papara Park was built on Ozan Tufan's first-half volley and Salah's 71st-minute finish. The match said as much about the two dugouts as the two scorers. Thomas Reis now has four wins from four matches in all competitions. Vincenzo Italiano's Beşiktaş have lost three of their four away league fixtures.

It was also a night that rewarded a very particular idea of football. Beşiktaş had 63% of the ball and 17 attempts to Trabzonspor's 13. Yet the hosts landed eight shots on target to six and looked like the more dangerous side whenever the game opened up.

Ozan Tufan keeps his family promise to open the scoring

The opener arrived in the 21st minute and started on the left, where Aral Şimşir and Ernest Muçi exchanged a one-two. Muçi hammered a shot from a tight angle. Alexander Nübel could only parry it straight into the path of Tufan, who arrived to volley it in from eight metres.

The goal carried more weight for him than for most. Tufan had promised his wife and child before the match that he would score in the derby, and he dedicated it to them. It also ended a Süper Lig drought of 191 days stretching back to 11 April 2026.

And it came against familiar opposition. That was his sixth league goal against Beşiktaş in 16 appearances. No club has conceded to him more often in his Süper Lig career.

Trabzonspor denied a penalty as Beşiktaş hog the ball

Ten minutes after the opener, Papara Park erupted in protest. From a corner, the ball struck Beşiktaş defender Emmanuel Agbadou on the arm inside the box. Referee Cihan Aydın waved play on, and the Spanish VAR, Raúl Martín González Francés, did not intervene.

The decision landed on a fixture already loaded with refereeing tension. Before kick-off, Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan had publicly singled out Aydın over an old video of him signing a rival club's shirt, warning him to ensure justice on the pitch.

Beşiktaş, meanwhile, kept the ball for long spells without any real effect. Their shot count looked like pressure on paper, but Trabzonspor stayed compact, ceded possession and waited. Even the corner count finished level at four apiece despite the visitors' territorial dominance. The visitors also collected three of the night's four yellow cards.

Mohamed Salah punishes Beşiktaş on the break

The second goal, in the 71st minute, was exactly the moment Trabzonspor had been waiting for. Beşiktaş were caught in transition, Salih Özcan could not contain Franculino Djú on the left, and the forward drove a low ball across the area to an unmarked Salah.

Salah side-footed it first time through Nübel's legs. It was his eighth league goal in eight appearances, taking him clear as the Süper Lig's outright top scorer. He has now scored in four of Trabzonspor's last six league games.

Across all competitions he has nine goals for the club. He has also scored in back-to-back major derbies, against Galatasaray and now Beşiktaş. All of this came three days after an altered Trabzonspor side had beaten KuPS 4–2 in Europe.

Six minutes later came the night's strangest scene. Aral Şimşir walked off to applause before Noah Saviolo's substitution had been officially registered. Aydın ordered him back on, and Şimşir played three more minutes before the change was finally completed.

At full time, it was Tufan the home ultras wanted. They called him up to lead the traditional post-derby “üçlü” chant, a fitting end to a night on which he had delivered exactly what he promised.

Thomas Reis keeps Trabzonspor perfect as Beşiktaş stumble away

The table shift is small but pointed. Trabzonspor climb to fourth on 16 points, one ahead of fifth-placed Beşiktaş on 15. It is a third straight league win for Reis's side, and their defence has now conceded only five league goals across the campaign. “Yine gol yemeden maç kazandık, bu çok önemliydi,” came the message from the Trabzonspor camp: another win without conceding, and a very important one.

Turkish coverage has credited Reis with steering Trabzonspor away from sterile possession towards discipline, organised defensive transitions and clinical finishing in the big games. This was that blueprint in full. “Herkes, Thomas Reis'in dediklerini yapıyor,” was the verdict from inside the home dressing room. Everyone, in other words, is doing what Reis asks.

For Italiano, the questions are sharper. His side lead the league's possession charts but are being criticised for toothless dominance, a lack of penetration and cheap defensive giveaways. Poor away form has become the rule rather than the exception. “Evimizden uzak kalınca sorun var, bunu çözebiliriz,” came the admission from the Beşiktaş side. There is a problem on the road, and they believe it can be fixed.

The previous meeting, in May, also went Trabzonspor's way, 2–1 away to Beşiktaş. Italiano's team showed against Marseille in September that they can hurt good sides. Until they bring that edge to their league trips, the ball will keep being theirs and the points will keep going to someone else.