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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Beşiktaş’ wings clipped again.

Beşiktaş would travel up to the cold confines of Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Looking to rebound from a disappointing loss to Manchester United in match day 1 of the UEFA Champions League, the Black Eagles needed some sort of spark to rejuvenate their Champions League campaign. The question was which Beşiktaş would show up, the league version, or the team that gave Manchester United a run for their money before losing?

Early on the answer seemed to be the league version. CSKA Moscow would jump out to an early lead in the 8th minute, as Alan Dzagoev would unleash a screamer that Beşiktaş goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber had no chance at. CSKA Moscow would continue to attack the goal in the first half, as their chances were built by good passing and decent shots. After the first 15 minutes, in which they were outshot 6-1, Beşiktaş seemed to settle down and built up some chances, but most of their chances would result in wasted shots, or CSKA grabbing possession. Beşiktaş had a great chance from Mert Nobre in the 44th minute but it would go out for a corner. Going into halftime, CSKA Moscow would be up 1-0, and it seemed as though Mustafa Denizli looked like a man that seemed lost. Perhaps CSKA should have been up by more, but it seemed that Beşiktaş would be lucky to go into the half only down by one goal.

The second half would feature Beşiktaş possession but no end result. Beşiktaş had some early opportunities in the second half as two corners would end up in the possession of CSKA. Beşiktaş had a great chance to score in the 57th minute, but Nihat Kahveci would mishit the ball and the ball would end up in the possession of CSKA. Through the first fifteen minutes of the second half, Beşiktaş would have much of the possession and played with some confidence. Getting goals would be a different story. CSKA Moscow would double the lead in the 61st minute as Milos Krasic would make a run from the right wing and make the finish count to make it 2-0. He would also pick up a yellow card in the process as he would take his shirt off to celebrate. Beşiktaş would continue to dominate possession and it seems that CSKA was content to sit back and defend. Beşiktaş would put in Serdar Ozkan and Bobo to try to jump start the attack. But the CSKA defense still sat back and defended, and Beşiktaş looked like it couldn't break through. Beşiktaş had their best shot at a goal late in the game when İbrahim Kaş beat the offside trap and had the keeper in a one-on-one situation but couldn't convert. Ekrem Dağ would halve the lead for Beşiktaş two minutes into stoppage time. But it was too little, too late as Beşiktaş would lose their second consecutive match.

So which Beşiktaş team showed up today? It seemed as though it was the league version. Beşiktaş just doesn't look as good as they were last season. Now it seems that Mustafa Denizli's hot seat just went up a few degrees on the temperature scale, regardless of whether Centigrade or Fahrenheit is used. It wouldn't be surprising to see Denizli removed from his coaching post sooner rather than later, or even his resignation.

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