After Galatasaray’s match against Adana Demirspor was postponed due to a contentious ruling, former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, who is currently in charge of Fenerbahce in Turkey, couldn’t help but mock the team.
Alvaro Morata, a January acquisition, gave the home team the lead in the 12th minute with a penalty kick that went past goalie Deniz Donmezer. However, the away team, including the players, coaches, and supporters, felt wronged by the controversial decision made earlier.
In the early moments of the match, referee Oguzhan Cakir indicated the location after creator-in-chief Dries Mertens, who was positioned behind a two-striker duo of Morata and Victor Osimhen, was deemed to have been fouled by Semih Guler.
However, replays show that Mertens was taken down far too easily with the visiting defender making very little contact. Around the half-hour mark, Adana Demirspor left the pitch to express their displeasure with Cakir’s decision.
🚨🚨 Galatasaray's opponents Adana Demirspor have just decided to walk off the pitch midway through the first half and are refusing to play the match. (@cenkcnr) pic.twitter.com/9FAMb4snkM
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) February 9, 2025
T24 claims that since only 30 minutes had been played in the match at RAMS Park, the Turkish Football Federation will decide the outcome in due time. According to the report, Mustafa Alper, the head coach of Adana Demirspor, insisted on wanting to see the game through to the end.
“The president took the decision, we wanted to stay on the pitch.” Alper stated, although his opponent, Okan Buruk, even maintained that the referee had probably made the wrong call in awarding a penalty.
It seemed more likely, in my opinion, that it wasn’t a penalty. This is not the first time that Adana Demirspor has been wronged. This wasn’t an innocent, impulsive choice, in my opinion.
The man in the middle left the game, and Mourinho, who was born in Setubal and is considered one of the greatest football managers in history because of his gigantic trophy cabinet from his numerous stays in Europe, responded with a less-than-subtle jab on Instagram.
In order to be ready for his team’s impending Europa League match against Anderlecht, he posted a video of Mertens reading and a picture of him on the touchline alongside the clip of him falling to ground.
https://www.instagram.com/josemourinho/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=26573ab3-035a-4160-8a15-1c37b632d699
Only last month, following Galatasaray’s controversial victory against Goztepe—who issued a post-match statement after losing 2-1—the seasoned 62-year-old lamented the quality of refereeing in Turkey’s top division.
According to talkSPORT, the widely known Special One couldn’t help but make a potentially illegal remark about the situation: “Everyone was saying the same thing yesterday.” More scandal, more scandal.
I pick up new vocabulary [in Turkish]. More scandal, more scandal. However, I believe that some of you enjoy it. Many people in this country enjoy it. The worst part is that even the winners enjoy it.
