Two Days, Three Red Cards and a Win That Rings Hollow: Why Trabzon's Derby Is Not Worth Celebrating Yet

At the 87th minute, the VAR screen at Papara Park lit up. Lesley Ugochukwu did not yet understand what was happening; the referee showed a red card. Galatasaray had been playing a man down since the 72nd minute, and then lost another player in the middle of the derby night. On the terraces, the roar was like thunder. But Thomas Reis, the head coach who had signed a contract only 48 hours before the match, stood still. He did not smile. He looked at the pitch like a man who had just realized what gift he was receiving: three points, a victory, but the questions remained untouched.

I have worked as a journalist for nearly thirty years. I have witnessed derby nights that could turn a man into a legend or into nothing. I still remember what an old coach told me when I asked how he felt after beating a rival because the opponent had two players sent off. He said: "Every win has its own taste, but this sweet one has a bitter aftertaste." Tonight, I looked at Reis and understood that he was tasting that bitterness too.

To understand this derby, you have to go back seven days. Trabzonspor faced Konyaspor and lost 1-0. It was not the goal that made the board lose patience; it was the way the team looked powerless for ninety minutes. They decided to change the manager. Thomas Reis was appointed on a Thursday morning, only two days before the derby. Perhaps no one expected a tactical revolution in 48 hours. Reis arrived with a depleted squad: Okay Yokuşlu, Malinovskyi, Folcarelli, and Batagov were all unavailable because of injuries. The dressing room was still in shock from the coaching change.

Then Reis created a second shock: he dropped Paul Onuachu, last season's top scorer, to the bench. Three positions in the starting line-up were changed compared with the Konyaspor match. Melih Kabasakal started, Saviolo started, while Ozan Tufan and Aral Şimşir sat out. It was a powerful statement from a coach who had only two training sessions to get to know his players. In the stands, the fans wondered: what is he seeing that his predecessors did not?

In football, derbies are usually decided by moments of emotional loss of control, not by technique. In the 72nd minute, Okan Buruk received a red card. Sitting in the stands, looking down at the pitch, I watched a young Galatasaray coach clutch his head and walk off. That moment changed the whole game. Before the red card, the match was balanced. Galatasaray were not superior, but Trabzonspor had not shown any new identity either. Reis remained a figure on the touchline, constantly signalling his players to keep their shape. That is the simplest kind of football a manager can build in two days: do not lose structure, do not give the opponent space. Then Ugochukwu, in the 87th minute, was sent off after a VAR review. Galatasaray looked like a ship without a rudder. A goal down, a man down, and without their head coach. It was a victory for Trabzonspor, but it looked more like a gift than an achievement.

Based on my experience following matches, a win in which the opponent receives two red cards — the second after VAR — usually creates a distorted picture. The scoreboard said Trabzonspor 1-0 Galatasaray. But if you are a coach with ambitions to build a team, you put the result aside and ask yourself: what would have happened if Galatasaray had kept eleven players until the end? Would this team have created a goal? Reis does not have the answer. He only has a derby — and a gift from the referee.

I have written a lot about frozen moments. An empty stadium once taught me that football is the voice of the people. But tonight I learned the opposite lesson: football can also stay silent in front of too much noise. Papara Park was on fire, but this victory is not enough to express Reis's voice. He needs more nights like this to understand his players. A derby is a moment, but a season is a river.

I looked at Onuachu sitting on the bench, his eyes distant. For a whole season, he was the man who scored decisive goals. Now he had been left out of the starting line-up in the biggest match of the season. Reis chose Kabasakal and Saviolo, two names with less experience, but they brought energy. I wondered: is the new manager sending a message to the entire dressing room that no one is protected by the past? That message is strong, but it can also be a double-edged sword. If Trabzonspor keep winning without Onuachu, he will find it even harder to win back his place. If the team starts losing because they lack goals, Onuachu's gaze will become a verdict against Reis.

There is a blind spot many people do not want to see: this victory may be more toxic than lucky. When a new coach debuts and wins a derby immediately, the media creates a storm called the new-manager bounce. The dressing room may begin to believe the problem was the previous manager, not themselves. But if you have watched football for three decades like me, you know that this effect usually lasts only a few weeks. The music of a great resurrection is usually written in dull midweek matches, not in derbies.

Defeat can also be the best medicine for Galatasaray. Two red cards — one from Buruk's hot head, one from Ugochukwu's lack of composure — will be analyzed for hours on Turkish television. The question is not what Trabzonspor did right, but what Galatasaray did wrong. They did not lose because Trabzonspor were brilliant. They lost because they destroyed themselves. In the coming days, a big club will face pressure that not every team can handle in Istanbul. I remember the spring of 2026, when Eriksen fell, and the whole world realized that football is just a way for us to hold each other. It was a reminder that football can change a man, can destroy a coach, can give birth to a dynasty from a red card. The fragility of the game lies here: a derby after two days of preparation can be decided by things that are not in any tactical manual.

I also think about how the young talents running on the pitch tonight. Mbappé does not run on grass; he runs on dreams we once dared to have. Kabasakal ran tonight too, and he was running to prove he deserved the trust of a newly arrived coach. But his dream is still fragile. One derby does not create a career. Only the long days, when the opponent does not get red cards, when the match ends in a dull scoreline, when the floodlights shine on quiet efforts, will reveal the true value of this team.

The Turkish season is still long. Trabzonspor's next match will tell us everything. Will Reis keep trusting Kabasakal and Saviolo while Onuachu climbs off the bench? Can the team create a victory against an opponent that does not receive red cards? I do not have the answer, but I know that a piece of grass in Trabzon was watered tonight by an easy win, and that is never as durable as the long rain of the next three matches.