Wilfred Ndidi was booked inside two minutes on a dramatic night in Istanbul, but Besiktas still cruised to a 3-0 Super Lig win over 10-man Genclerbirligi at the Tüpraş Stadium on Sunday. The Super Eagles midfielder survived the early scare to play 70 minutes as Dusan Vlahovic’s first-half brace and Ernest Poku’s late strike sealed a comfortable victory for the Black Eagles.
The drama arrived almost immediately. Ndidi was shown a yellow card in the second minute for a foul on Yiğit Hamza Aydar, and the Genclerbirligi players and technical crew surrounded referee Atilla Karaoglan insisting the challenge deserved a straight red. The referee stood by his decision, and the early flashpoint set the tone for a feisty first half in Dolmabahçe.
Wilfred Ndidi Besiktas: Vlahovic brace puts hosts in command
Besiktas made their extra quality count in the 20th minute when Leandro Trossard slipped Dusan Vlahovic through and the Serbian striker finished clinically with his left foot. It was Vlahovic’s eighth league goal of the season in only nine appearances, and it settled the home side after their whirlwind start.
The visitors’ task got harder two minutes later when Metehan Baltacı collected a second yellow card for persistent fouling and was sent off, leaving Genclerbirligi with 10 men for more than an hour. Vlahovic doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, again from a Trossard assist, this time finishing with his right foot to make it 2-0 — his ninth league goal of the campaign.
Trossard completed a hat-trick of assists five minutes from time, driving in behind the Genclerbirligi defence before Ernest Poku applied the finishing touch on the goal line to make it 3-0 and round off a dominant evening for the hosts.
Ndidi’s night ends early as Besiktas ease home
Ndidi was withdrawn in the 70th minute, replaced by Kartal Kayra Yilmaz, with the game already won and the international break looming. It was a night that summed up the Wilfred Ndidi Besiktas experience so far — early drama, then control. The numbers told the story of Besiktas’ dominance: 69 per cent possession, 20 shots to Genclerbirligi’s three, 10 on target to one, and an expected-goals margin of 3.26 to 0.20.
The win was the perfect response to Thursday’s 3-2 Europa League defeat at Celtic, and it lifted Besiktas to 22 points from 11 league games. Genclerbirligi, meanwhile, remain on 11 points and were left to rue Baltacı’s early dismissal, which ended any hope of a result in Istanbul.
For Ndidi, the evening was another timely reminder of his importance to club and country, and the Wilfred Ndidi Besiktas chapter now pauses for the international break. The 29-year-old has been named in Eric Chelle’s 24-man Super Eagles squad for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers against Tanzania, with Nigeria hosting the Taifa Stars in Uyo on Friday 13 November before the return leg in Zanzibar on Tuesday 17 November. Tanzania have already landed in Uyo, five days early, as Chelle’s side prepare to open camp.
There was also a Nigerian subplot on the other side of the pitch. Former Super Eagles midfielder Peter Etebo was among Genclerbirligi’s six absentees, suspended and ineligible for the trip to Istanbul, so the visitors were without one of their most experienced heads for the toughest away trip in the Turkish top flight.
For more on the Super Eagles’ road to AFCON 2027, check today’s predictions.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0, Dmitry Pukalik/soccer.ru) — collage by SportsBuddy.
