Late Amed Sportif turnaround leaves Salah and Trabzonspor empty-handed

Amed Sportif came from behind to beat Trabzonspor 2-1 and inflict their first Turkish league defeat of the season, despite an early goal from Mohamed Salah.

Trabzonspor made the stronger start in Monday’s third-round fixture and took the lead after 11 minutes. Ernest Muci led a swift counter-attack before finding Salah in space, allowing the Egypt international to run from the halfway line towards the penalty area.

Salah kept his composure before driving a low shot into the bottom-left corner to give the visitors an early advantage.

Amed Sportif responded by putting pressure on the Trabzonspor defence. Yira Sor, Mbaye Diagne and Dya Sabiya all tested the visitors, but Trabzonspor goalkeeper Andre Onana helped his side retain their lead for most of the opening half.

The hosts were eventually rewarded in stoppage time. The referee awarded Amed Sportif a penalty after Melih Kabasakal was judged to have handled the ball inside the area.

Diagne took responsibility from the spot, but Onana saved his effort. Sor reacted quickest to the rebound, however, and fired the ball into the net in the fifth minute of added time to level the match before the break.

Amed Sportif continued to show greater attacking intent after half-time, while Trabzonspor looked for a response through Muci, Aral Simsir and Ozan Tufan.

Salah remained involved in Trabzonspor’s attempts to regain the lead. He created two opportunities for Muci in the 59th minute, but both efforts were kept out by Amed Sportif goalkeeper Alban Lafont.

The Egyptian then supplied another chance for Tufan, whose header was also saved by Lafont in the 76th minute.

Trabzonspor came close to restoring their advantage six minutes later when Salah found room inside the penalty area, but his shot was blocked by the Amed Sportif defence.

Instead, the home side completed the comeback in the 89th minute. Substitute Gift Orban scored the decisive goal to secure a dramatic victory for the newly promoted club.

The defeat means Trabzonspor surrendered an early lead despite Salah continuing his scoring form. They now have four points from their opening three matches and sit ninth in the Turkish league.

Amed Sportif, newcomers to the competition, moved on to six points after claiming their second victory of the campaign.