Besiktas’ 5-1 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv
September 16th, 2011 - 4:11 pm ICT by IANSIstanbul, Sep 16 (IANS) Turkey’s Besiktas thrashed Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-1 in their first game of the UEFA Europa League group E fixture here Thursday.
The game received much hype due to the Israeli team’s presence in Turkey at a time when diplomatic relations between the two countries are at an all-time low. Besiktas let their football do the talking on the pitch.
The game passed off incident free at Besiktas’s scenic Fiyapi Inounu Stadium next to the Bosphorus.
The goals for Besiktas were scored by Hugo Almeida, Mehmet Aurelio, Egemen Korkmaz and Edu while Maccabi’s sole strike came from Roi Kehat.
Besiktas had taken a 2-0 lead at half time and played out the game in comfort.
The other teams in the group are Stoke City from England and Dynamo Kiev from Ukraine.
A force of more than 2,300 police officers was deployed just around the stadium to prevent any untoward incident during Maccabi ’s visit to Istanbul, according to media reports.
Six Israeli plainclothes police officers accompanied Maccabi to Istanbul as well.
The bringing of Palestinian flags into the stadium was prohibited as well to avoid the risk of sanctions that Besiktas might face as a result.
–IANS/CMC
bs/mr
- Ukraine's coach Blokhin names Euro 2012 squad - May 30, 2012
- World weightlifting championships begins in Turkey - Sep 17, 2010
- Turkey to build canal through Istanbul to aid sea traffic - Apr 28, 2011
- Early exits beckon for Champions League big guns - Nov 23, 2009
- Kenyan and Ethiopian runners win Istanbul marathon - Oct 17, 2011
- Manchester City, Marseille win in UEFA Cup - Mar 13, 2009
- Istanbul holds world's only intercontinental marathon - Oct 16, 2011
- Barcelona's Messi out of action for a week - Dec 11, 2009
- Turkey bars men from football matches - Sep 22, 2011
- Mancini orders City players to forget about Man U - Mar 16, 2011
- Israeli government the problem, not the people: Turkish PM - Oct 03, 2011
- Barca, Real seek Champions League revenge - Nov 02, 2009
- Europa Cup: Spurs strike thrice in five minutes against Rovers - Sep 30, 2011
- Season over for Betis playmaker Mehmet Aurelio - Apr 24, 2009
- Ukraine goalkeeper crisis deepens ahead of Euro 2012 - May 03, 2012
Tags: besiktas, bosphorus, cmc, diplomatic relations, dynamo kiev, egemen, first game, hugo almeida, hype, israeli team, istanbul, korkmaz, league group, maccabi tel aviv, mehmet aurelio, palestinian flags, police officers, sanctions, uefa, untoward incident