Haji Wright is keeping his name in the conversation for a World Cup spot as he scored twice to help Antalyaspor to a massive win over reigning Turkish Super Lig champions Trabzonspor.
Antalyaspor 5-2 Trabzonspor
Antalyaspor proved to be too much for the champions as they prevailed in a seven-goal thriller at Corendon Airlines Park.
Haji Wright went the distance for the Scorpions completing 77 percent of his passes and winning four duels along with four shots.
The American forward came very close to scoring just six minutes into the contest when timed his run to get his foot on a cross from teammate Fredy from the right side. However, the ball drifted just wide of the far post.
The hosts did find the breakthrough eight minutes later on a counterattack. A Trabzonspor defender was able to tackle the ball away from Sam Larsson, but it rolled into the path of Fernando who sent a long-range curler past a diving Uurcan Cakir to give his team the lead.
Things only got better for Antalyaspor later when the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty after Wright was brought down in the area by defender Vitor Hugo. The 24-year-old dusted himself off and tucked away the spot kick in the 40th minute.
Trabzonspor pulled one back before halftime when their North Macedonian midfielder Enis Bardhi put in a low shot. He then leveled the score for them in the 73rd minute when his shot on the edge of the area got past goalkeeper Ruud Boffin.
With fulltime starting to get closer, Antalyaspor found another gear to hit the champions with three unanswered goals.
Gokdeniz Bayrakdar restored their lead in the 81st minute when he left himself open to slot hom a pass from Wright. He extended their lead in stoppage time when he was left open again to put away a pass from Houssam Ghacha.
Wright settled the game with his second on the night in the eighth minute of added time. He did well to bring a pass from Hakan Ozmert under control before fending off two Trabzonspor defenders as his shot took a wicked deflection to end up in the goal.
The win moves Antalyaspor up to fifth place in the Super Lig standings with six points.
