DELE ALLI had little to celebrate on Christmas Day as he was benched for Besiktas’ match against Gaziantep.
The Turkish league continued on holiday, but Alli failed to make it onto the pitch during the 1-1 draw.
Besiktas travelled to the mid-table side, hoping to close the gap to the top three as the Turkish Super Lig is one of few in Europe that does not pause for Christmas Day.
Besiktas fell behind the game after Joao Figueiredo gave Gaziantep the lead in the 71st minute.
But on-loan Burnley striker Wout Weghorst was the hero as he fired in an 86th-minute equaliser.
The former England and Tottenham star Alli, however, spent the full 90 minutes on the bench as he was not used in the draw.
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The snub followed him being brutally hooked after 29 minutes in the Istanbul-based side’s last game, in which he was booed by the club’s fans.
Besiktas were trailing 2-0 when he was subbed off the pitch, but the decision to replace him by manager Senol Gunes worked.
From the losing position, a brace from Cenk Tosun and goals from Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and Weghorst handed them a 4-2 victory.
A couple of days after the game, Alli took to Instagram to show that he still loved football.
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He posted a picture of himself holding a ball to his chest along with the caption: “You saved my life. That’s why I will always love you.”
Alli left Tottenham last season in a move to Premier League side Everton, but he failed to get back to his best form and was subsequently loaned to Besiktas in the summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
