Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho offered genuine congratulations to the referee despite his team’s second derby defeat of the season.
Mourinho’s side saw their five-game winning run end in Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Besiktas.
The Portuguese, who has been punished in the past for criticising referees, had nothing but praise for the officiating of Mehmet Türkmen.
“If we have referees like this one in every match of the title contenders, the championship will be a beautiful championship and the winner will deserve to win,” Mourinho said after the game. “But referees need a little bit of support, too. I don’t want to say that I’m the first one 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 dressing room and I was congratulating the referee. My feeling was that he was good, he was consistent. He kept control of the game.
“We lost just because it’s football. I didn’t see anything wrong.”
Mourinho, who took the Fenerbahce job in the summer, is attempting to lead the club to their first Super Lig title in a decade. Sunday’s loss left Fenerbahce second in the standings, five points adrift of Galatasaray.
“We think we can win,” he said regarding the title race.
Asked what encouraging words he would give to Fenerbahce fans after his team suffered another derby defeat, with Fenerbahce having lost 3-1 at home to Galatasaray in September, Mourinho said: “To increase their faith I would say there is 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 this is football. I understand the emotions. I don’t think any supporter is sadder than I am, supporters love the club but this is my job. Nobody is sadder than me, than the players and the board. You sometimes lose a match that you deserve to lose. You lose a match where you play nothing, but this was not the case.”
Fenerbahce are back in action on Wednesday when they host Athletic Club in the Europa League.
