Dries Mertens made his first appearance in a Galatasaray shirt on Saturday. The Belgian came on as a substitute in the 78th minute, immediately after Borja Sainz opened the scoring for Giresunspor. The Galatasaray Number 10 replaced right winger Yunus Akgün, but played on the left wing.
Mertens was only on the pitch for 12 minutes (plus stoppage time), but was very involved in the action. In the 81st minute he was part of the build up to a Haris Seferovic header that was barely pushed off the line by Giresunspor goalkeeper Onurcan Piri. Three minutes later Mertens’ direct free kick from 25 yards struck the wall and stayed out.
Mertens took another direct free kick in the 87th minute, this time from the left wing. The Belgian tried to catch Piri off guard by going direct for goal from the tight angle.
In the end, Giresunspor held on for the 1-0 victory.
