Ole Gunnar Solskjaer blames 'synthetic turf' for the draw

Speaking at the press conference following the match, Beşiktaş manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said, "Of course, I'm not saying this as an excuse, but the synthetic turf was a factor in our ball losses."

"We wanted to control the game, silence our opponent's fans, and build belief in ourselves, and we did find a goal. I can say we lost control of the match by conceding from a corner kick," he said.

Continuing his assessment of the match, Solskjaer noted the following:

"We lose control for 10-15 minutes during the match. Some players need to motivate themselves by saying, 'Come on guys, let's get our team shape back.' The players need to take some initiative and control the situation.

When you are 1-0 up in the score, you hope to defend better and get the second goal. Sometimes this happens in Europe when playing away. Our opponent was physically strong. I am disappointed because we conceded from a corner kick.

We can provide more control in midfield with Orkun, Joao Mario, and Ndidi. But there were too many ball losses in the second half. I don't want to make excuses, but the pitch also had an effect. They were making a lot of runs in behind."

News Source: 12punto