Majeed Waris helps Trabzonspor to victory

The Black Sea Storm remain alive in the hunt for a Europa League place

Waris Majeed made a late cameo as Trabzonspor secured a tight 1-0 victory over rivals Bursaspor to keep pace with the Europa League contenders in Turkey.

Wednesday afternoon’s match was a contest between fifth and sixth in the Super Lig, with Waris and Co. looking to put some distance between themselves and a team who were tied with them on 50 points heading into the match.

Similarly, with fourth-place Istanbul Basaksehir having seen off Sivasspor on Tuesday, Trabzonspor knew they needed to win to keep pace with the side occupying the final Europa League spot.

A nervy encounter was settled on 46 minutes when Ozer Hurmaci found the net following an assist from substitute Fatih Atik, who had replaced Jose Bosingwa just after the half-hour mark.

Coach Ersun Yanal opted for Oscar Cardozo as a sole striker, meaning that Waris started the game on the bench, before replacing his teammate on 83 minutes.

The Black Star was unable to make a significant impact on proceedings as the home side looked to preserve their lead in the dying stages of the match.

With only three games of the campaign left, Trabzonspor will be desperate to collect the maximum possible points in order to keep the heat on Istanbul.

While they only have one more home match remaining, they will be encouraged by the fact that their three outstanding opponents are all in the bottom half of the table, including bottom club Balikesirspor.

Ghana striker Waris has endured a tough campaign.

He took his time to adapt to life in Turkey, and was then hit by a devastating injury just as he began to find his form.

The injury ruled him out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, and he only returned to action on March 9. Since then, he has only once lasted more than an hour—in the 1-1 draw with Genclerbirligi.

He has featured 15 times this season—nine times from the bench—and scored no goals in the Super Lig.