Salah makes immediate impact as Trabzonspor discover new attacking route

Trabzonspor moved to a 2-1 victory over Basaksehir in the Turkish league on Sunday, with Mohamed Salah scoring both goals in his side’s success. The result came in the third official appearance for the Egypt captain since joining the Turkish club.

Salah opened the scoring after eight minutes and struck again three minutes after half-time to give Trabzonspor a decisive advantage. He also found the net twice in the closing stages, but one effort was ruled out for a foul and the other was disallowed for offside.

The forward made his Trabzonspor debut as a substitute against Kasımpasa on the opening weekend before starting for the first time in the Europa League qualifying-round meeting with Ferencvarosi TC.

For Turkish newspaper Hurriyet’s sports writer, Mehmet Ayan, Salah’s arrival has helped Trabzonspor move towards a more varied attacking approach rather than relying so heavily on repeatedly directing the ball towards Pierre-Emerick Onuachu.

Ayan argued that Trabzonspor became more effective when they kept the ball on the ground and used a wider range of attacking options. Both teams appeared willing to take the initiative from the start, with Trabzonspor avoiding an overly cautious approach and Basaksehir showing no reluctance to attack.

The result was an open contest containing several chances at both ends.

Trabzonspor manager Fatih Tekke quickly abandoned the alternative system used against Ferencvarosi TC and returned to his usual 4-2-3-1 formation. The quality of the team’s passing also improved with Ruslan Malinovskyi and Muci involved, while captain Stefan Savic moved back into the defensive line. Cabral replaced Pina in the starting XI.

“ Salah’s goal was not the only evidence of his presence in the match; he also produced a fine technical moment with a superb shot using the outside of his boot, confirming that he was present and influential in the game,” Ayan said.

“However, changing Trabzonspor’s usual style will not happen overnight. During some periods of the match, the team continued to rely on the same solution: sending the ball towards Onuachu.”

Ayan added: “But when the players began to move away from that approach and kept the ball on the ground, the team became more dangerous. Salah was the most important factor in that change, as the standout player in bringing the ball back to the ground and starting attacks in a different way.

“The second goal came from his skill, alongside Muci’s ability to play passes along the ground.”

Onuachu and Muci later went close to scoring from attacks built through ground passing, while Malinovskyi and Saviolo also adapted to the new strategy.

The analysis suggested that having a world-class player capable of creating chances from wide areas, such as Salah, should encourage Trabzonspor to reduce their dependence on the “send the ball to Onuachu” method and develop more variety in the way they construct attacks.

Fatih Tekke made several substitutions between the 70th and 87th minutes, sending on Cenk, Bushari and Ozan as he attempted to protect the lead. The decision was understandable, but it pushed Trabzonspor deeper and allowed Basaksehir to take control of possession and the overall flow of the match.

In one of the game’s key moments, Onana saved a volley from Umut in the 86th minute as Basaksehir pressed for an equaliser.

Ayan concluded: “With two valid goals and two disallowed goals, Salah sent a clear message to his team: ‘I have arrived.’”