Trabzonspor manager Nenad Bjelica defends Paul Onuachu substitution

Trabzonspor boss, Nenad Bjelica has defended his substitution of Paul Onuachu in the wake of the club’s surprising 3-2 defeat to Hatayspor in the Turkish Super Lig.

The Nigeria international doubled Trabzonspor lead in the 68th minute before he was substituted off which culminated in the collapse of the team and eventual loss to Hatayspor.

Bjelica said the changes were effected to win the game and confessed Onuachu was a key player and substituting him off was to introduce fresh legs to the game.

The gaffer stated the same changes were made against Benfica where they won 3-0 but took another dimension against Hatayspor.

“We aimed to win the match. We made player changes to win the match,” Bjelica was quoted by BSN Sports.

“Paul Onuachu made a lot of effort, we wanted to replace him and add fresh players to the game.

“We made the same changes as the Beşiktaş match. Things went well in that match, but not as we wanted in this match.

“It is not easy to explain this without analyzing the match yet, but as I mentioned, our goal is to always make changes that can win the match.”

Karadeniz Fırtınası (Black Sea Storm) will lock horns with Pendikspor on September 30 and her ranked sixth on the Turkey Super Lig table with nine points from six matches.