Football: Besiktas pull off historic comeback

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ISTANBUL

Turkish powerhouse Besiktas pulled off an improbable comeback against Portugal's Benfica on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League.

The Group B match in Istanbul at the Vodafone Arena saw Besiktas coming back from three down at halftime to even the score 3-3, earning a crucial point to keep their hopes alive.

Besiktas, who could not afford a defeat to keep their last 16 hopes intact, was stunned by Benfica early on and conceded three goals within 20 minutes, down 0-3 at half time.

Turkish supporters were just as silent witnessing their team's first-half performance as in the first minute of the when some 42,000 fans performed world's first silent cheer using sign language in order to raise awareness against racism and also for the hearing impaired ahead of International Day of People with Disabilities on Dec. 3.

Starting the second half full of motivation and determination, the Black Eagles found their first goal in the 58th minute from striker Cenk Tosun's magnificent volley.

The 25-year-old's goal lifted the crowd and the team from that moment on.

Besiktas was awarded a penalty kick the 83rd minute; Portuguese star Ricardo Quaresma made no mistake from the penalty spot to make the score 3-2.

Vincent Aboubakar, who was loaned from Portuguese powerhouse Porto at the beginning of the season, completed the comeback in the 89th minute to send home fans into ecstasy.

With the result, Besiktas remains in contention in the group, increasing their points total to seven. The team is still yet to lose in all competitions this season, extending their unbeaten streak to 16 matches.

After the final whistle, of the match Cenk Tosun was jubilant: "There’s nothing like that feeling, I can’t even explain it," he told broadcasters.

"I think you could tell it from my face, maybe someone has taken [a photo of] that moment; it was incredible," Tosun said. "I believed even at 3-3 that we could find the fourth goal. Maybe if we had scored the third goal earlier that would have happened, but we are very happy that we remained in the competition."

The comeback brought back memories of the 2005 Champions League final in when Liverpool managed to come back from a 0-3 deficit at against AC Milan to draw 3-3 and win the cup after a penalty shootout.

In the other match in Group B, Napoli drew 0-0 against Ukraine's Dinamo Kiev, missing out their chance to top the group and qualify to last 16.

Besiktas are next scheduled to play Dynamo Kiev on Dec. 6.

Here are the latest standings in Group B: