Dele Alli spends Christmas Day on the bench in Turkey days after the ex-England star came on for Besiktas after 29 minutes

DELE ALLI had little to celebrate on Christmas Day when he was benched for Besiktas’ game against Gaziantep.

The Turkish league continued on holiday but Alli failed to make it onto the pitch in the 1-1 draw.

1

Besiktas traveled into midfield hoping to close the gap to the top three as Turkey’s Super Lig is one of the few in Europe not to have a break at Christmas.

Besiktas fell behind after Joao Figueiredo put Gaziantep ahead in the 71st minute.

But Burnley striker Wout Weghorst on loan was the hero as he equalized in the 86th minute.

Former England and Tottenham star Alli, on the other hand, spent the full 90 minutes on the bench as he did not feature in the draw.

The snub followed him when he was brutally hooked after 29 minutes in the Istanbul side’s last game, where he was booed by the club’s fans.

Besiktas was 2-0 down when he came on from the field but the decision to replace him with coach Senol Gunes worked.

From loser position, a brace from Cenk Tosun and goals from Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and Weghorst gave them a 4-2 win.

A few days after the game, Alli took to Instagram to reveal he still loves football.

BETTING SPECIAL – THE BEST FOOTBALL BETTING SITES IN THE UK

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 for Premier League side Everton last season but failed to return to his best form and was subsequently loaned to Besiktas in the summer.