Konyaspor head coach İlhan Palut has revealed that his side prioritised nullifying Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu over Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah’s threat, as they claimed a 1-0 win over Trabzonspor at the weekend.
Speaking after the Turkish Super Lig victory, Palut said his team specifically worked on cutting off the service to Onuachu during preparations for the clash, deeming the Nigerian a greater danger than his teammate, the Egyptian international.
“We have great respect for Muhammad Salah. However, who did you train for? If you ask, we worked on the balls that came to Onuachu,” Palut said. “According to the other options we have, Onuachu and (Baniya) Ryan’s match was pretty good. The struggle was sometimes one-sided, sometimes more balanced. They both played well. At some moments, we could not do what we wanted, but we did not give Onuachu a chance to hit effectively.”
An early goal from Hungarian midfielder Rajmund Toth proved enough to secure the win for Konyaspor, who avenged their 2026 Turkish Cup final defeat to Trabzonspor and also ended a run of four consecutive league defeats to open the season.
Onuachu started and played the full 90 minutes but was unable to reproduce the two-goal display that helped Trabzonspor beat Konyaspor in the Turkish Cup final in May.
