There were a few players missing form action this week as far as Turkish players plying their trade abroad were concerned. Arda Turan missed Barcelona’s 3-2 victory over Valencia due to injury. Emre Mor was suspended for Borussia Dortmund and Gokhan Tore is still out on the sidelines for West Ham.
We take a look at how Turkish players – and players of Turkish origin – did this week outside of the Super Lig.
Caglar Soyuncu – Freiburg
The 20-year-old rising star made his fourth consecutive start for the Bundesliga outfit, starring in the 2-1 win over Augsburg over the weekend. The Turkish youth international won six aerial balls, made five clearances and blocked a goal bound shot in what was yet another impressive defensive display. Soyuncu also showed that he is pretty gifted on the ball as well and actually made the highest number of successful dribbles in the game (3). The young defender did play in attacking roles as a youngster before finding his position as a centre-back but remains technically gifted and an accomplished passer of the ball.
Emre Can – Liverpool
Can managed to keep his place in the starting line-up against West Brom following the goalless draw against Manchester United last week. The Germany international of Turkish origin still looks a little rusty following a lengthy injury but he is nearing full match fitness. The 22-year-old did well defensively and won eight aerial balls but his pass completion rate was a little low for a player in his position – 80 percent.
Emre Can vomiting watching this cringe worthy celebration pic.twitter.com/owzQJxw2nj
— T (@PassIikeNeymar) October 22, 2016
Enes Unal – FC Twente
The boy wonder just cannot stop scoring and contributing to goals. Unal set up teammate Yaw Yeboah with a delicate pass which played the 19-year-old in on goal before he slotted the ball past the keeper. Twente ended up beating Go Ahead Eagles 2-0 and Unal now has eight goals and one assist in eight games for the Eredivisie outfit this season.
On-loan #MCFC star Enes Ünal showing that he can assist as well as score! The boy wonder is on ?8 goals & 1 assist this season at FC Twente pic.twitter.com/dI5snstTdH
— Turkish Football (@Turkish_Futbol1) October 24, 2016
Mesut Ozil – Arsenal
Ozil had an unusually poor game. The 28-year-old failed to create a single goal scoring opportunity but in all fairness the team as a whole struggled to find a way through a sturdy Middlesbrough defence. Let’s put it down to the comedown from his birthday party last week.
Halil Altintop – Augsburg
Halil scored his first goal of the season for Augsburg but it was not enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat against Freiburg.
Ilkay Gundogan – Manchester City
City may have been held to a 1-1 draw against Southampton but the Germany international of Turkish origin put on yet another impressive midfield display. Gundogan created more chances than anybody else on the field (4) and the accuracy of his passing was quite frankly astonishing – 95 percent. The 26-year-old would have liked to have gone into his birthday week with a win under his belt but his pass completion rate was given the credit it deserves by the Opta team.
93.1 – Birthday boy @Guendogan8 has the best pass completion rate in this @premierleague season. Genius. @ManCity @DFB_Team_EN pic.twitter.com/YdPfw1YLSz
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) October 24, 2016
Omer Toprak – Bayer Leverkusen
The Turkish international defender had a game to forget following Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-0 defeat against Hoffenheim on Saturday. The experienced centre-back made costly errors and head coach Roger Schmidt had seen enough by 56 minutes bringing him off for an early shower.
Bilal Basacikoglu – Feyenoord
The 21-year-old winger caused the Ajax defence a number of problems with his forward runs and no player on his team pulled off more successful dribbles (2). Basacikoglu also created the most chances for his side (3) although none resulted in an assist. The Turkish U21 international could however, do with working on his pass accuracy which was a rather disappointing 50 percent.
