Several African stars were on parade at the New Adana Stadium as the Blue Lightnings kicked off their top-flight campaign on a losing note
Mbwana Samatta was in action as Fenerbahce defeated David Akintola’s Adana Demirspor in their opening Super Lig fixture of the 2021-22 season.
The Tanzania striker led the Yellow Canaries’ attack on Sunday as Mesut Ozil scored the important goal that sealed three points for the visitors in Adana.
Both teams had African players on parade with Samatta playing for 45 minutes while DR Congo’s Marcel Tisserand and Nigerian descent Bright Osayi-Samuel played the entire duration for Fenerbahce.
Akintola joined Morocco’s Younes Belhanda and Mario Balotelli in the hosts’ frontline and they were replaced in the second half by Gambia’s Pa Dibba, Nigeria’s Okwuchukwu Ezeh and DR Congo’s Britt Assombalonga respectively.
It was Assombalonga’s debut appearance in Turkey following his free transfer from Championship club Middlesbrough at the expiry of his contract.
Akintola also joined the Blue Lightnings from Midtjylland in July after his impressive loan spell at Hatayspor where he scored six goals in 35 Super Lig matches last season.
Prior to Sunday’s outing, Nigeria winger relished his partnership with Balotelli but both players could help Adana Demirspor avoid defeat at home.
“We have the quality to get a result against Fenerbahce and I’m looking forward to the game,” Akintola told Goal.
“Adana are keen on a positive campaign and our impressive run in pre-season gives us good confidence ahead of the game against Fenerbahce.
“I also hope for a positive debut playing alongside Mario Balotelli. He has been a great guy since I joined, and I can’t wait to help the team get a win in front of our home fans.”
Following their narrow loss at home, Akintola and his teammates will turn attention to their next Super Lig match which is a trip to Kayserispor on August 20 while Samatta’s Fenerbahce will battle Finnish club HJK Helsinki in the Uefa Europa League play-offs on Thursday before hosting Antalyaspor for their next league outing on August 22.
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