06.03.2025 19:10
Erzurumspor FK, despite taking a 2-0 lead against Pendikspor in the 28th week of the Trendyol 1. Lig, ended up losing the match 4-2. In the match, where Halil Umut Meler was in the VAR chair, the main referee Sarper Barış Saka did not award a penalty in favor of the home team in the 81st minute, even after reviewing it on VAR, which overshadowed the match. The Erzurum side reacted very strongly after the game.
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In the 28th week of the Trendyol 1st League, Erzurumspor FK faced Pendikspor. In the match played at Aktepe Stadium, Pendikspor defeated Erzurumspor FK 4-2 away. The match, where Halil Umut Meler sat in the VAR chair, saw a penalty that the main referee Sarper Barış Saka did not call after reviewing the situation become a topic of discussion.
ERZURUMSPOR FOUND 2-0
The home team Erzurumspor started the match quickly, taking a 2-0 lead with goals from Eren Tozlu from a penalty in the 3rd minute and Cheikne Sylla in the 13th minute.
MUSTAFA YUMLU RECEIVED A RED CARD
Immediately after this goal, Erzurumspor was left with 10 players after Mustafa Yumlu received a red card for handling the ball to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity. The experienced defender left his team one player short from the 15th minute onwards.
PENDİKSPOR CAME BACK
With the advantage of playing one player more from that point on, Pendikspor reached victory. The goals that brought the away team 3 points came from Hasan Kılıç from a penalty in the 17th minute, Bekir Karadeniz in the 47th and 69th minutes, and Yonathan Alexander del Valle, who completed the penalty he missed in the 90+12th minute.
WATCHED ON VAR, DID NOT GIVE A PENALTY
Meanwhile, a situation in the 81st minute marked the match. While the match continued with Pendikspor leading 3-2, the referee Sarper Barış Saka went to the monitor to review a potential penalty after VAR referee Halil Umut Meler alerted him to a situation where Giorbelidze from Erzurumspor was down in the penalty area. Despite reviewing the situation, Saka did not change his decision and the game continued.
VERY STRONG REACTION FROM ERZURUMSPOR
Erzurumspor, who left the match with a 4-2 defeat after leading 2-0, reacted very strongly to the match referee Sarper Barış Saka after the incident. Head coach Hakan Kutlu stated in a post-match interview, "There are events that developed after we took a 2-0 lead. The red card we received may have been the only correct decision the referee made throughout the match. We conceded goals due to individual mistakes, but the fouls he called on those goals were also very questionable," he said.
"OUR CLUB WILL MAKE THE NECESSARY EXPLANATION"
Kutlu said, "I congratulate my players; they played with 10 men for about 85 minutes, including stoppage time, but they showed a high-level example of struggle. In my opinion, we also reached a 3-3 score under such difficult conditions. I hope our club will make the necessary explanation because I have been with Erzurumspor for 3 years, and we have gone through very tough days in these 3 years. But as we got stronger and set some goals, they stepped on us. Today we experienced something like that, and I congratulate my players," he expressed.
"WHERE DO THEY GET THIS POWER?"
Expressing their surprise at the referee's decisions, Erzurumspor FK Head Coach Hakan Kutlu made the following statements;
"We will reach our goal, this incident will further increase our unity. I am not just saying this for this match; we have experienced many referee mistakes in other matches as well. I can say that we experienced the biggest disaster today when you put it all together. The dedicated struggle of the fans, president, and player group has been ongoing for 3 years. The only thing I wonder is where they get this power from, how can they manage matches like this? Turkey's elite referee calls the VAR (Halil Umut Meler) for a position, there must be evidence that it is a penalty because he calls. The referee managing the match in the 1st League does not comply with the decision of the referee managing the match in the Champions League. We will get stronger and hopefully bring Erzurumspor to the place we aim for this year."
STATUS OF BOTH TEAMS AFTER THE MATCH
With this result, Pendikspor increased their points to 40, winning after 3 matches. Erzurumspor FK, on the other hand, suffered their first defeat after 3 matches and remains at 45 points.
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