St Patrick's Athletic 1 - Besiktas 4St Patrick's Athletic were downed by a four-goal blitz in the first half, which included a hat-trick for former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, as Besiktas overpowered Stephen Kenny's side 4-1 in in the first leg of their third qualifying round encounter at Tallaght Stadium. Despite a spirited second half by the League of Ireland side, the tie is as good as over ahead of the second leg next week. Before kick-off, the Besiktas players wore shirts with 'Stop Crimes against Humanity' emblazoned on the front, with 'Enough is Enough' on the back, in a clear reference to the war in Gaza. For St Pat's, the veteran Chris Forrester came in for Barry Baggley in the only change from last week's win in Estonia. The visitors, managed by Ole Gunner Solskjaer, settled quickly and were ahead in the eighth minute. A quick break down the righthand side by Earnst Muci, whose ball caught the St Pat's defence ball-watching as it worked its way across to Portugal international Joao Mario, who looked to curl a shot into the net. However, his effort took a wicked deflection off Joe Redmond, leaving keeper Joe Anang completely flatfooted as the ball cannoned off the Pat's captain and into the back of the net. It should have been 2-0 in the 13th minute as Joao Mario set up Rafa Silva inside the area, but when it looked easier to score, he ballooned his shot over the bar. But it only delayed the inevitable as, moments later, Jonas Svennson crossed from the right and Anang, diving forward got a hand to it, only for the ball to drop Abraham, and the striker tapped home after it bounced kindly off his chest. Abraham got a second and his side's third at the midway point of the first half. Showing immense strength in holding off defender Tom Grivosti after the ball was flicked into his path by Joao Mario, the big striker calmly dinked the ball over the advancing Anang, stunning the St Pat's support into silence. It could have been four on the half-hour as a delightful one touch build-up by Besiktas led to a fierce shot by Orkun Kokcu fizzing narrowly over the St Pat's crossbar. Pat's did manage to force a corner in the 37th minute but although the ball did end up in the net, the referee had already blown for a foul by Simon Power. It got worse for St Pat's before the break as Jamie Lennon brought down Abraham in the area and from the spot the Englishman sent Anang the wrong way to complete his hat-trick in the 43rd minute to leave it 4-0 at the break to the Turkish side. Simon Power of St Patrick's Athletic after scoring against Besiktas in 2025 Conference League Then, out of nothing, Pats pulled a goal back three minutes after restart. Jason McClelland placed a delightful left-footed ball down the line to pick out Power (above), who advanced in on goal and cooly beat Mert Gunok at his near post. A lengthy VAR check confirmed the goal as the St Pat's supporters finally had something to shout about. St Pat's should have had a second as Axel Sjoberg, another half-time sub, brilliantly picked out Mason Melia all alone in the area, but with the goal at his mercy, the Spurs-bound striker shot straight at Gunok. Forester tested Gunok with a shot on 75 minutes as Pats looked for a consolation second goal. At the other end, Anang denied Besiktas a fifth goal, saving twice from sub Kartal Yilmaz in the closing stages. St Pat's showed some great resilience in the second half, the pity was that they were like rabbits caught in headlights in the opening period. © rte.ie
