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Desperation spawned a nightmare.

Fenerbahcefootball.com columnist and editor Onur Mutlu wrote about last match against Trabzonspor...

Fenerbahçe’s 19-match winning streak came to an end in the match against Trabzonspor at Kadikoy. While such streaks often motivate fans, they can create negative stress on players. This stress was easily noticeable in the performances of Fenerbahçe players.

Due to injury problems in the defensive line, Ismail Kartal chose to start the match with Samet Akaydin, the only fit center-back available. Jayden, usually a left-back, was placed alongside Samet in the center of defense. It was a risky choice, and the consequences were severe. Samet struggled to keep up with Trabzonspor’s fast wingers, and Jayden, playing out of position as a center-back against Trabzonspor’s lone striker, failed to take up the right positions, leading to the first goal from an Edin Visca cross after passing Samet.

After this goal, Fenerbahçe, expected to lose momentum, held onto the game and took control. To slow the game down, Ugurcan and Trabzonspor’s defenders intervened. Goal kicks and free-kicks were taken slowly, and referee Zorbay Kucuk did not intervene. In the first half, a harsh foul on Irfan Can Kahveci and a penalty on Szymanski in the last minutes were overlooked by the referee and officials.

The second half was expected to start with Fenerbahçe’s pressure, but it didn’t happen. Due to personal errors by Samet Akaydin, Fenerbahçe conceded two goals in three minutes. Trabzonspor, leading by three goals, began making player changes to maintain the scoreline. Ismail Kartal and his team only started responding to these changes after the 70th minute. Fenerbahçe managed to encounter the ball frequently in the opponent’s penalty area, leading to two penalty goals, reducing the gap. However, it wasn’t enough to leave the field with points.

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Trabzonspor found the net twice after two incidents the referee saw closely and allowed to continue, but these goals were later canceled after a VAR review. During Fenerbahçe’s second penalty, Trabzonspor players entered the box before Tadic took the shot, leading the VAR to alert the match referee for a retake.

While the VAR system is intended to assist referees, it has seemingly turned into a tool where it’s making decisions for the referees. Turkish referees need to undergo a serious evaluation, and those who succeed in this evaluation should receive advanced training to reach global standards. If this pattern persists, it seems more teams will suffer due to these discrepancies.

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