Sadly for them the game, and in reality the tie overall, was already over, the Saints 4-0 down at the break, thanks in no small part to a hat-trick from Besiktas’s England international Tammy Abraham, on a night when the gulf in the clubs’ relative budgets was cruelly exposed on the field.
St Pat’s were never really going to knock out a side with the squad and finances of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Black Eagles, but there lingers a ‘what might have been’ in the sense that, had Pat’s played in that first half with their second-half tenacity, aggression and organisation, they’d at least have made more of a contest of this.
A superb goal from winger Simon Power early in that second half broke the siege and Mason Melia caused problems but it’s the away side who take home a 4-1 win and, almost certainly, a date with Lausanne or Astana in the playoff round as Solskjaer was never really worried about the tie going away from them, such was their dominance in the first half.
Pat’s didn’t help their cause by playing with a wide open approach which was taking the role of welcoming hosts way too far, as Besiktas walked most of their goals into Joe Anang’s net, though things did improve with changes after the break.
That 4-0 lead at the break had those of us with time on their hands to scour the record books to find when the club’s heaviest home defeat in Europe was, as there were omens that the second half could bring more punishment. In defence of Pat’s, Besiktas operate at a different level: 10 of their starting XI are senior internationals, as were six of their subs, Solskjaer operating off a budget beyond the imagination of Stephen Kenny.
Pat’s have hosted some big clubs in Dublin in the last decade but even compared to the likes of Hertha Berlin, Hannover, Legia Warsaw and Steaua Bucharest, Besiktas were a class above.
So this wasn’t really a level playing field and when Pat’s fans park the pain of watching their side being demolished before their eyes, they can only admire the sheer brilliance of players like Ernest Muci, the sublime Portuguese pair of Joao Mario and Silva, the brain of playmaker Orkun Kokcu, the effortless defending of Emirhan Tpocu… the list just went on.
It took Besiktas just eight minutes to open the scoring, a simple goal as Muci played the ball to Silva, he passed to compatriot Mario and his shot went in, with a deflection off Joe Redmond. Silva went close to a second before they got another goal, on 14 minutes when Anang initially made a save from a cross from deep by Jonas Svensson but Abraham was left free just off Anang’s line to tap home.
Mario was the source of the third goal from the Turks, on 22 minutes when his pass split the Saints’ defence and Abraham simply brushed off his marker Tom Grivostoi to slide past Anang.
And there was more to come. On 40 minutes Besiktas had a penalty, given for Jamie Lennon’s foul on Abraham in the box and the former Chelsea man stepped up to claim his hat-trick.
Keen to stem the flow of attacks, Kenny made changes at the break, in personnel and formation, bringing on defenders Luke Turner and Axel Sjoberg with a five-man defence which made them a lot more solid.
And three minutes after the restart they had some relief. Jay McClelland, such an impressive performer in Europe for the Saints in this campaign, curled the ball up the line to Power who confidently took on his marker, ex-Arsenal man Gabriel Paulista, beat him and also beat Besiktas keeper Mert Gunok with a fine strike.
They even had a chance for a second goal on 55 minutes, Melia left in a one-on-one situation with the keeper but Gunok saved. Power was enjoying his partnership down the left with McClelland and Pat’s did take the game to Besiktas in that spell, though of course the key arbiter of events, the scoreboard, had a three-goal lead for the Istanbul club.
Yet Melia grew in confidence – he’d been just pushed off the ball for long spells before the break – and there was another effort from Forrester, while at the other end Anang had to save from Silva on 78 minutes.
But no stress for Solskjaer in the end, Pat’s taking heart from their second-half attitude to contrast with their first-half timidity as they return to the race to get back into Europe for next season.
St Patrick’s Athletic – Anang; McLaughlin, Grivosti (Sjoberg 46), Redmond, McClelland; Lennon, Forrester (Baggley 81); Mulraney (Turner 46), Leavy (Carty 81), Power; Melia (Kavanagh 88).
Besiktas – Gunok; Svensson, Topcu, Paulista, Jurasek (Sanuc 89); Kokcu (Hadziahmetovic 89), Tiknaz (Yilmaz 76); Maria, Silva (Bingol 46), Muci (Arryo 58); Abraham.
Ref – D Smajc (Slovenia)