Mensah was on target for Besiktas
Bernard Mensah got himself a goal as Besiktas got the better of Antalyaspor in Friday’s friendly match.
The Black Eagles did not have the most pleasant of encounters in their last friendly which ended in a 1-0 defeat by Sivasspor with their misery compounded by Dorukhan Tokoz getting a red card.
There was however no room for any pushovers here with Besiktas getting the lead in the third minute via Atakan Uner. Mensah then doubled the lead five minutes to the half-time break before Turkish teenager Ilkay Isler put the game to bed in the 84th minute.
Mensah was taken off in the 61st minute for another youngster in Kartal Yilmaz.
The 25-year-old Ghanaian joined Besiktas on loan for Kayserispor.
He became an Anatolian Star on a permanent basis after a previous loan spell from Atletico Madrid. During the 2019-20 Super Lig campaign, Mensah scored five goals and provided eight assists in 25 Super Lig outings. Only one of the assists he provided ended in a defeat which came in a 4-1 loss by Besiktas on December 2, 2019.
His best goal involvement was providing two assists in a 2-1 win over Yeni Malatyaspor just before the Super Lig was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. His season ended on a bad note after getting a red card in a 1-1 draw at home to Gaziantep and thus missed the last two games of the season which ended in losses to the first and second-placed sides Istanbul Basaksehir and Trabzonspor.
Mensah had previously spent time on loan at Kasimpasa as well as Getafe in Spain and Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal. He had been on the books of Vitoria between 2012 and 2015 before moving to the Spanish capital where he failed to make a single appearance for Los Rojiblancos.
He will be the second Ghanaian to play for Besiktas in 2020 after Kevin-Prince Boateng. The 33-year-old joined the Black Eagles on loan from Fiorentina in January and made a total of 11 appearances in the Super Lig, scoring three goals and providing one assist as the Istanbul giants finished in third place and booked a spot in the Europa League.
