Quaresma delivers for Eagles when it matters most

Beşiktaş players celebrate with playmaker Ricardo Quaresma (2nd L) after the Portuguese converted a penalty to give his team an away spor toto super league victory over Trabzonspor at Hüseyin Avni Aker. (PHOTO today’s zaman, Temel Yirmibeşoğlu)
Precious points were up for grabs in the Spor Toto Super League “match of the week” between Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş at Hüseyin Avni Aker on Sunday evening.
As is known, Beşiktaş won, with Portugal playmaker Ricardo Quaresma scoring the only goal of the game in the 79th minute. The Portuguese superstar neatly converting a penalty after Beşiktaş’s 23-year-old Turkish junior international striker Mustafa Pektemek was brought down in the box by Trabzonspor’s Czech defender Ondrej Celustka.
Referee Fırat Aydınus then gave young Celustka his marching orders, rightfully applying the last man rule as stipulated by UEFA and FIFA. This is what Mr. Bülent Yıldırım lacked the courage to do in the Galatasaray-Sivas match on Saturday, eventually ruining what would have been a rather interesting game.
The charismatic Quaresma has often been accused of selfishness on the pitch and not playing as a member of a team. But on Sunday this Portuguese lad was outstanding. Playing like an all-rounder, Quaresma mesmerized the Trabzon defense with his dribbling runs and incisive footballing brain.
Quaresma is the man
There was nothing selfish about Quaresma. He delivered perfect passes to teammates and only took shots at goal when he was very sure they would hit the target. “Give praise where praise is due,” they say. And Quaresma, crowning Sunday’s performance with a goal, deserves great praise and applause.
Despite his football wit and wisdom, Quaresma had only scored three league goals since he joined Beşiktaş in June 2010. Sunday’s goal was his fourth and it came at a time when the Eagles needed victory at all costs.
Having gone winless in their last two matches, Beşiktaş and coach Carlos Carvalhal knew the only way to avoid the wrath of the die-hard fans was to return from Trabzon with maximum points. The Eagles did exactly that -- through Quaresma -- and now all their football sins have been forgiven.
The only thing is that Quaresma was booked for over-celebrating his goal, thereby annoying the irate Trabzon fans, and so is definitely suspended in this weekend’s home match against newcomer Orduspor.
Carvalhal -- though deputizing for Tayfur Havutçu, who is currently at Metris Prison over alleged match rigging -- has formed a good team that is improving every blessed day. And Beşiktaş seems to tower above the others with sportsmanlike discipline not found in the other Super League teams.
The Eagles have not been beaten so far in any of their matches against former league champions. They beat Bursaspor away, drew at home with Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, and on Sunday defeated the Storm away. Their three losses this season have been against mediocre sides.
Black Eagles superior
“We were the better side and deserved victory,” Carvalhal said after the match. “Now our opponents will be playing against each other,” he said, alluding to the toughies their İstanbul rivals Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray as well as Trabzonspor face in the near future.
Trabzonspor may be representing Turkey in the big-time UEFA Champions League, but Beşiktaş is the superior side on a player-to-player basis. The likes of Roberto Hilbert, Fabian Ernst, Manuel Fernandes, Quaresma, Hugo Almeida and Filip Holosko are really world-class stars -- something the Storm lacks.
Secondly, the Storm relies only on lone striker Burak for goals, with his teammates constantly sending long passes to him. This strategy is becoming archaic and opposing defenders now know how to deal with situations like this. It’s time for Trabzon coach Şenol Güneş to start inventing new ideas upfront.
“We were better in the first half,” Güneş said. “Beşiktaş had more strength and stamina and we began to feel this as the game progressed,” he added. Güneş should be reminded that a league is played over two halves plus stoppage time and a team can hardly win by playing well only in the first half.
In Saturday’s other Super League games it was: İstanbul bşb 3, Gaziantepspor 1; Eskisehirspor 3, Ankaragücü 2, and Manisaspor 1, Kayserispor 0.
Source:http://www.todayszaman.com/news-264137-quaresma-delivers-for-eagles-when-it-matters-most.html