Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 7:56 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 20:04

Besiktas took a big step up in the Süper Lig on Thursday evening. Sergen Yalçin’s team dealt with low flyer Göztepe with some effort: 2-1. That was thanks to Rachid Ghezzal, who decided the match with a nice long shot. Towed with ten men Kara Kartallar with the necessary effort the victory out of the fire. Besiktas climbs four spots and is now seventh.

The first half was full of spectacle for both goals. In the third minute, the defense of Besiktas overlooked Cherif Ndiaye, after which the Göztepe striker was able to hit from inside the penalty area: 0-1. The home team thought they would come back after twenty minutes via the breakthrough Michy Batshuayi, but the Belgian saw his goal disallowed for offside. Ten minutes later, Cyle Larin put a valid equalizer on the scoreboard, after the left striker got the ball ready by a wonderful touch from Oguzhan Özyakup: 1-1.

Göztepe was awarded a penalty just before half-time after Besiktas defender Francisco Montero ran into Kerim Alici’s back. Soner Aydogdu decided to shoot straight from the penalty spot, allowing Ersin Destanoglu to turn the penalty. Fifteen minutes after the break, Ghezzal put Besiktas ahead. The right striker outplayed his direct opponent and made a wonderful hit at eighteen meters from the goal: 2-1.

In the final phase, the same Ghezzal hit the post from a free kick. Besiktas had to continue with ten men eight minutes before the end after a second yellow card for Valentin Rosier, who interrupted a promising attack. David Tijanic had a huge chance to equalize in injury time, but went wide.