Dylan Bettencourt
Galatasaray’s Marcao was given his marching orders during their season opener after punching and headbutting Kerem Akturkoglu – his own teammate.
Akturkoglu shushed the Brazilian centre back after their side went 2-0 up, sparking an enraged reaction from Marcao. He stormed over to his teammate and threw several punches before being broken up by the rest of the squad.
After a lengthy review with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), Marcao alone was punished and his Turkish teammate remained on the field because he did not react to the defender’s attack.
The 25-year-old Marcao is an instrumental member of the famous Turkish side. But his future with the club may be in jeopardy following his violent antics on Monday night.
The Turkish giants will have been relieved that the incident did not impact the score line, as they went on to win the game 2-0, following goals from Mbaye Diagne and Alexandru Cicaldau.
After the game Galatasaray manager Faith Terim said: “I say it for all of us, for the football world. We have all kinds of arguments in the locker and on the field. From time to time, we come to a point of attacking each other, but I was the first to say such a thing to a teammate.”
The manager added the club will work with the squad to figure out why the in cident took place, and they will find a way forward as a team.
Video source: @ODDSbible
Image source: @English_AS
