Mauro Icardi and Dries Mertens appear to LAUGH at Wilfried Zaha after the former Crystal Palace winger’s poor touch during their Champions League qualifier
Mauro Icardi and Dries Mertens appeared to be seen laughing at their Galatasaray team-mate Wilfried Zaha, after the former Crystal Palace star failed to control a pass during his side’s 1-0 Champions League qualifier win against NK Olimpija Ljubljana.
It was the Ivorian forward’s second run out in an orange shirt and he impressed on the night.
The 30-year-old showed off his lightning footwork to his new fan base inside the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, skilfully evading multiple Ljubljana players throughout the match.
But on one occasion, Zaha, who was brought on after half-time, seemed to have some difficulty controlling a bouncing pass, knocking the ball out of play for a throw-in.
His team-mates were subsequently shown on the television footage appearing to laugh between themselves following the incident, with Icardi and Mertens hiding their faces with their hands as they sat on the bench.
Wilfried Zaha (pictured) helped Galatasaray defeat NK Olimpija Ljubljana 1-0 in their Champions League qualifier on Tuesday night
Mauro Icardi and Dries Mertens appeared to laugh at the the former Crystal Palace star after he failed to control a pass during the game
The Argentinian had given the Super Lig side the advantage in the match after 24 minutes, coming back from an off-side position to capitalise on a header into the box and pump the ball into the back of the net with a left-footed strike.
It means Galatasaray will advance to the next round of qualification, beating Ljubljana 4-0 on aggregate after their 3-0 first leg triumph.
They’ll now take on FC Molde in a play-off game, with a win earning them a berth in the group stages of the European tournament this season.
It was Zaha’s (pictured) second appearance for the Turkish club and he impressed during the match, skillfully dribbling around several opposition players
Before last week, Zaha had been out of action for some time with a hamstring injury which prevented him from playing in Palace’s last two Premier League games against Fulham and Nottingham Forest.
In fact his last appearance on the football pitch before joining Galatasaray came in Palace’s 2-0 win against Bournemouth in May.
He made his debut coming on as a substituted for the Turkish side during Galatasaray’s Super Lig curtain raiser against Kayserispor and played 21 minutes of that match, which was also his first game back from injury.
The Crystal Palace legend became a free agent this summer and despite receiving offers from Saudi Arabian clubs, moved to Istanbul on a three-year deal.
