St Patrick’s Athletic 1 (Power 49) Besiktas 4 (Joao Mario 8, Abraham 14, 23, 43)
St Pat’s: Anang; McLaughlin, Redmond (capt), Grivosti (Sjoberg 45), McClelland; Lennon, Forrester (Baggley 78), Leavy (Carty 82); Mulraney (Turner 45), Melia (Kavanagh 88), Power
Besiktas: Gunok; Svensson (Bingol 45), Gabriel, Topcu, Jurasek; Tiknaz (Yilmaz 76), Kokcu (Hadžiahmetović 89); Muci (Arroyo 58), Rafa, Joao Mario, Abraham
Here is Gavin Cummiskey’s match report:
[ St Pat’s outplayed by classy Besiktas in Conference LeagueOpens in new window ]
That’s all from me, good night!
Full-time: St Patrick’s Athletic 1 Besiktas 4
Very good second half by Pat’s, they can be proud of their recovery, but completely outplayed overall by a team on a different level to them.
89 mins: Pat’s just about survive as Arroyo beats his man again, good save by Anang and then cleared off the line.
Shamrock Rovers have lost 1-0 to Kosovan team Ballkani away. Still very salvageable with the home leg to come, but some work to do in Tallaght.
82 mins: Arroyo has been bright off the bench, a nice one-two and gets in behind the defence but a weak shot at Anang.
78 mins: Chance for Pat’s! Quick free-kick by McClelland catches Besiktas off-guard, Forrester fake shots then tries to curl it in the box but straight at the keeper.
Pat’s win a corner but from the counter, Besiktas nearly score. Rafa Silva got to the ball first and nearly got in Arroyo, came back to Rafa but Anang made a very sharp intervention to save Pat’s.
75 mins: Abraham has been very quiet this half, maybe coasting after his hat-trick and he finally gets the ball in a dangerous area but is well intercepted by Lennon.
72 mins: Shout for a handball for Besiktas from a shot from sub Arroyo. He had nutmegged the full-back, showing some flair.
68 mins: The Turkish crowd really makes a lot of noise for a small away following as Pat’s have another opportunity that almost falls to Turner in the box but just intercepted.
65 mins: Dangerous moment for Pat’s as Mario gets into the pocket and his shot is deflected over the crossbar this time instead of to the net.
62 mins: Besiktas keeping the ball patiently after Pat’s have dominated the past 15 minutes. Some great pressing though by the Irish side wins the ball back, working hard despite being three goals down.
Another Forrester to Power combo and a great first touch by Power, whose fine game continues. He beats his man once more but his cross is cut out.
56 mins: Then a massive chance for Melia! Super low cross into him by Sjoberg just outside the six-yard box but he hits it straight at Gunok. Shame.
54 mins: A real sloppiness to Besiktas in this half, giving the ball away on a few occasions and Pat’s are much livelier. A few great crosses into the box cause havoc and the crowd are getting into it.
49 mins: Goal for St Pat’s! Brilliant goal by Simon Power, who has been arguably their best player tonight. Ball played in behind, shows his pace, good first touch and low finish into the corner.
A VAR check sadly. Checking on the halfway line, it’s a very close call... but the goal is given!
St Patrick’s Athletic 1 Besiktas 4
The second half is kicking off. Meanwhile, it’s not good news for Rovers either as they’re 1-0 down against Ballkani, Sunday Adetunji with the goal. 58 mins gone there.
45 mins: A nice ball in behind by McClelland to Melia who makes a good run but the keeper collects.
Half-time: St Patrick’s Athletic 0 Besiktas 4
A complete and utter mismatch so far, sadly. Could be any score unless Pat’s improve drastically or Besiktas drop off.
42 mins: Penalty for Besiktas! They had two shouts there, two players went down, but looks like it was for Lennon catching Abraham in the box.
A bit of a delay as they wait on VAR.
Goal for Besiktas! A 42-minute hat-trick for Tammy Abraham. He coolly slots it in to the keeper’s right, sends him the wrong way.
St Patrick’s Athletic 0 Besiktas 4
40 mins: Goal disallowed for Pats! Push in the back by Power from a corner, can’t really complain too much, but Besiktas made a bit of a hames of it and it ended up in the net via Jamie Lennon.
37 mins: The late evening sun is really shining in Tallaght now as Rafa Silva just pulls a volley wide after a nice cushioned header down by Abraham.
33 mins: Besiktas despite their domination have made a lot of fouls and Mulraney runs at them and finally they’re punished, Tiknas picks up a yellow. Teasing cross by McClelland is dealt with well by Gunok.
30 mins: Every time Besiktas are threatening, Abraham is just toying with the Pats defence, with fancy footwork. Unfortunately the way it’s going, this could end up any score.
Another chance for Besiktas as Muci cuts it back on the edge of the box for Kokcu who just hits it over.
23 mins: Goal for Beskitas! Again a backheel does the damage, Mario into Abraham, superb first touch, then dinks the keeper. Beautiful football but too easy. With skills like that you wonder why Chelsea sold him, although you could say that about 20 other players they’ve sold over the past 10 years.
St Patrick’s Athletic 0 Besiktas 3
21 mins: Pat’s haven’t got a foothold on the game at all, Besiktas just playing at a different level, different pace.
14 mins: Goal for Besiktas! Tammy Abraham makes it 2-0 with a tap-in open goal after Anang failed to deal with Svensson’s cross from the byline. Kokcu with a lovely ball in behind. Brilliant football by the Turkish side so far, could be a very long night.
St Patrick’s Athletic 0 Besiktas 2
13 mins: St Pat’s under the cosh, unsurprisingly considering the pedigree of the players. Joao Mario played an important role in Portugal winning Euro 2016 for example.
Another big chance for Besiktas with a counter as Grivosti gives the ball straight away. Another backheel for Rafa causing problems and Kokcu ends up blazing it wide in the box.
8 mins: Goal for Besiktas! Joao Mario shows his class as the Turkish side are not messing about. A lucky deflection after a nice flick by Rafa Silva, Pats could have defended better perhaps, but a well-taken goal.
St Patrick’s Athletic 0 Besiktas 1
7 mins: Unsurprisingly, it settles into some Besiktas possesion with winger Muci looking dangerous. Mario forces a save out of Anang, but it was a foul as Jurasek pushed in the back in the build-up.
3 mins: Leavy goes for an unorthodox move from kick-off and runs straight at Besiktas and manages to get past a few defenders before losing the ball on the edge of the box.
Then a superb long pass by Forrester and a nice touch by Power sets up a one v one on the left but unfortunately mishits the cross.
The teams are ready to go, best of luck Pat’s!
Here is the Pats team:
Here is the Besiktas team:
Yesterday, Besiktas manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær revealed he was approached by the FAI to replace Stephen Kenny as the Republic of Ireland head coach.
Solskjær, speaking ahead of the Turkish club’s Uefa Conference League qualifier against the Kenny-managed St Patrick’s Athletic at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday night, confirmed that discussions occurred during the Association’s calamitous 231-day search.
[ Ole Gunnar Solskjær confirms he was approached by FAI to take Ireland jobOpens in new window ]
Here is soccer correspondent Gavin Cummiskey’s match preview:
“Ole Gunnar Solskjær brings a star-studded squad to Tallaght with a value of €143 million, according to transfermarkt.com. Stephen Kenny’s side are worth just €4 million, which is a questionable figure considering that Tottenham Hotspur paid an initial €1.9 million transfer fee for Melia."
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Uefa Conference League third qualifying round between St Patrick’s Athletic and Besiktas from Tallaght Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Pat’s will look to follow in the footsteps of Shelbourne last night in pulling off a big upset in Europe but their task is even greater tonight against one of the big three from Turkey’s Süper Lig, with many times the budget. Their manager is the former Manchester United one Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and they have a few recognisable faces – former Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham, and Portugal internationals Rafa Silva and Joao Mario to name a few.
St Pat’s managed to keep Turkish opposition, İstanbul Başakşehir, to a goalless draw at home in the Conference League qualifiers last year however, and Stephen Kenny will be looking for a similar performance tonight.
