Mesut Ozil played a professional football match on Tuesday afternoon, his first for 332 days.
The midfielder left Arsenal in the January transfer window after seven-and-a-half years at the London club, joining Fenerbahce on a free six months before his much publicised £350,000-a-week contract was due to expire.
Ozil had spent the final year of his Arsenal stay in the wilderness having been frozen out of the side since an appearance against West Ham on 7 March last year, and though he appeared in a pre-season friendly against Aston Villa he was subsequently left out of their 2020-21 squads.
This lack of match practice meant Ozil trained for more than a week with the Fenerbahce first team before head coach Erol Bulut deemed the 32-year-old was ready to feature in the matchday squad.
That wait ended on Tuesday, with Ozil named among the substitutes for the Turkish Super Lig trip to Hatayspor.
Fenerbahce currently lead the division, and with a match at home to rivals Galatasaray coming up on Saturday, Ozil geared up for a potential appearance in one of the most fiercely-contested derbies in the world by playing 18 minutes at Hatayspor.
Donning the No 67 jersey for the first time, Ozil made his debut with Fenerbahce 1-0 up, coming on in the 77th minute to replace Mame Thiam, who scored the first-half opener.
Former Premier League strikers Mbwana Samatta and Papiss Cisse had already been introduced by the time Ozil was brought on, which came just after Ozan Tufan’s goal-line clearance helped Fenerbahce preserve their slender lead.
Moments into Ozils debut, Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir pulled off a brilliant save to deny Aaron Boupendza before a stunning stop kept out Mame Diouf’s header as well.
All the while, Ozil’s wait for a first touch went on. Indeed such was the pressure from Hatayspor that it was not until the 88th minute when the midfielder got his first touches in a move which resulted in Fenerbahce’s second goal.
Receiving the ball in a central position, Ozil played the ball out wide to Ferdi Kadioglu, whose cross resulted in a Jean Claude Billong own goal after he slid in to pass the ball past his own goalkeeper.
Bayindir had made another superb save only moments before to prevent it from becoming 1-1, but once 2-0 Boupendza halved the deficit almost immediately with a stunning volley.
There were five minutes added on, but Fenerbahce weathered the storm, and though Ozil had a hand with a pre-assist for the second goal, the visitors will be grateful for Bayindir’s match-winning contribution in the second half, ensuring they head into the Galatasaray match top of the table.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2YBSQqn
Post a Comment