Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho sincerely congratulated the referee despite his side’s second derby defeat of the season.
Mourinho’s men ended their five-game winning streak Saturday’s defeat 1-0 On Besiktas.
The Portuguese who was punished in the past for criticizing the referees, he had nothing but praise for Mehmet Türkmen’s play.
“If we have referees like this in every match of the title contenders, the championship will be a beautiful championship and the winner will deserve to win” – Mourinho he said after the match. “But judges also need a bit of support. “I don’t want to say I’m the first, but I don’t think many people in this country congratulate a referee after a defeat.”
He added: “Before I came here [to the press conference]I was in the referee’s locker room and congratulated the referee. I felt like he was good, he was consistent. He kept control of the game.
“We only lost because that’s football. I didn’t see anything wrong.”
Mourinho, who took over at Fenerbahce in the summer, is trying to lead the club to its first Super Lig title in a decade. Sunday’s defeat left Fenerbahce in second place in the table, five points behind Galatasaray.
“We think we can win,” he said of the title race.
When asked what words of encouragement he would give to Fenerbahce fans after his team suffered another derby defeat to Fenerbahce after losing 3:1 at home to Galatasaray in September, Mourinho said: “To increase their belief, I would say we have a long way to go. I would tell them to watch the game again. If they watch the game again, they will understand that we did enough to win the game.
“And that’s football. I understand these emotions. I don’t think any fan would be sadder than me, the fans love the club, but it’s my job. No one is sadder than me, other than the players and management. Sometimes you lose a game you deserve to lose. You lose a match when you don’t play anything, but that didn’t happen.
Fenerbahce will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Sports Club in the Europa League.
