On the edge of the continent, St Patrick’s Athletic stood on the brink of history but fell agonisingly short here. There will be no European group stage football later this year, nor probably next, with this defeat in Istanbul all but ending the Saints’ season.
Stephen Kenny’s men battled bravely but second-half goals from Omer Ali Sahiner and Olivier Kemen stole their dream of securing European group stage football for the first time in the club’s history, while they finished the tie with 10 men after Aaron Bolger’s straight red card - having only been substituted on four minutes earlier.
Sixteen-year-old Mason Melia and Kian Leavy had opportunities to put the visitors ahead before the break, but the hosts enjoyed the better chances overall in front of 6,160 at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim stadium, which included the 100 Saints fans who made the pilgrimage from the James Joyce pub to the 19,000-capacity venue.
Early on, Zach Elbouzedi opened up a pocket of space on the edge of the box. The shot appeared on, however the ex-Ireland Under-21 cap squared across to Melia in front of goal, but the striker’s shot was tame.
Krzysztof Piatek, capped 30 times for Poland, saw his header fly over Joseph Anang’s goal minutes later as the hosts began to threaten.
Basaksehir tried to find their forwards through a series of long balls but the Saints back line, led by skipper Joe Redmond, held firm as Greek international Dimitrios Pelkas skied an effort high and wide on 20 minutes.
Another bursting run by Elbouzedi down the right flank got the Saints moving again, as the winger’s cross was diverted before Leavy, Kenny’s only change from the first-leg, saw his follow up effort well blocked.
On 25 minutes, Leavy then capitalised on an error, charged down on goal, but scuffed his effort wide. Kenny’s men were finding some joy on the counter.
But the Turkish outfit went close to taking the lead, not once, but twice moments after, as midfielder Berkay Ozcan rounded Anang but saw his effort bravely cleared off the line by Axel Sjoberg - the Saints right-full painfully colliding with the post in the process.
Kemen then unleashed a goal-bound shot only to see it blocked by his own player, Piatek. Two warning signs in two minutes for the men from Inchicore.
There were huge jeers from the hosts, and their support, five minutes before the interval as Anto Breslin appeared to block Pelkas’ driving shot with his arm, but the Hungarian referee dismissed the protests, before Jerome Opoku tried his luck in front of goal.
St Pat’s had done so well to hold out, but just after the hour mark the deadlock was broken. Basaksehir captain Ali Sahiner got in behind the Saints back line courtesy of a deflection, and stuck the ball past Anang - the first goal Kenny’s men had conceded in 334 minutes of European football.
Things went from bad to worse 17 minutes later as Bolger was shown a straight red card for hacking Kemen to the ground in an attempt to prevent a counter attack. With the next attack, Kemen headed in his side’s second from Lucas Lima’s cross. With that, it was game over for the Saints. This one will hurt for a long time.
A Moment of Truth
For 152 minutes over two legs, St Patrick’s Athletic’s dared to believe they’d create history by making the cut for group stage participation in European competition.
Worlds apart in resources, the Irish side belied the €150m chasm of talent value to remain competitive against Istanbul Basaksehir until past the hour mark of the second leg in Turkey.
One pivotal moment, a fortunate ricochet inside the box, broke in the hosts’ favour, allowing Omar Ali Sahiner to squirt the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Joseph Anang.
The captain was part of an experienced Turkish outfit laced with internationals from Europe and beyond, fully expected to emerge from the qualifying rounds for their fifth group phase campaign. As recently as 2021, they were in the Champions League slaying Manchester United.
Runs like that, allied to Government support, equip teams to endure the obstacles presented by opposition from lower-ranked nations like Ireland.
Despite losing former AC Milan defender Léo Duarte after just seven minutes, they could spring from their bench Olivier Kemen.
The Cameroon international ended any comeback hopes by powering his header home with eight minutes left, moments after a wild lunge on him had led to Aaron Bolger incurring a straight red card within four minutes of coming on.
Missed Opportunities
Similar to last week’s stalemate at their temporary home of Tallaght Stadium, Stephen Kenny’s side will live to regret spurning golden opportunities.
Mason Melia, only turning 17 next month, could be excused for teenage haste when snatching at a fifth-minute opportunity. Muhammed Sengezer was relieved when the striker scuffed his close-range shot straight at him.
He should also have been worked when Kian Leavy, in from the start in place of the injured Romal Palmer, charged behind the defence on 26, only to drag his shot wide of the far post.
It wasn’t until stoppage time that the home stopper was called into serious action but that stop with his legs, when Aidan Keena squared for fellow sub Brandon Kavanagh, came after Basaksehir were comfortably in control.
In between, Axel Sjoberg had to clear off the line before the break, a signal of the orange-shirted side creating alarm. They simply had too much when it came to the crunch, the stage of the tie when risks had to be taken and fatigue can be decisive.
“We didn’t capitalise on two great first-half chances and probably needed to,” lamented Kenny afterwards.
“Midway through the second half the game was still in the balance and they took the lead. The sending-off didn’t help us for the second half.
“At 1-0, as we saw with Brandon’s late chance, we’d be still in the group, so it’s disappointing to go out to an excellent side.”
A Bittersweet End
While Kenny made much of the “five and three-quarter-day” gap between the legs, the scheduling at least offers an extra day to prepare for league resumption. They meet the two relegation candidates from Louth, Drogheda first on Sunday before the refixed game away to Dundalk.
hurdling two rounds, after receiving a bye in the first as the FAI Cup winner qualifier, grossed the club €1.2m and they missed out on bulging that pot to €3.7m by being eliminated.
“It was unbelievable to score five goals over the two legs against Vaduz and then getting two clean sheets against a Sabah side that had a budget of €12m,” Kenny summarised.
“You can see by the Basaksehir celebrations how relieved they were after realising this was such a tough tie.”
ISTANBUL BASAKSEHIR: M Sengezer; L Duarte (O Kemen 7), H Gureler, J Opuko, O Ali Sahiner (B Ozdemir 77); B Ozcan, O Ergun, D Pelkas (L Lima 77); D Turuk, Davidson (J Figueiredo 68); K Piatek (P Keny 77).
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: J Anang; A Sjoberg, J Redmond, T Grivosti, A Breslin; J Lennon, C Forrester (A Bolger 77); Z Elbouzedi, K Leavy, J Mulraney (B Kavanagh 77); M Melia (A Keena 68).
Referee: Balázs Berke (HUN).
