Turkey round-up: Galatasaray take giant step

Galatasaray SK took another step towards the Turkish title with a 2-0 win today.

Derby win
Mircea Lucescu's side secured an excellent 2-0 win away at local rivals Istanbulspor AS to extend their lead over second-placed Fenerbahçe SK to six points. Fenerbahçe take on third-placed Besiktas JK tomorrow.

Own goal
The visitors' nerves were eased after 19 minutes when Istanbulspor defender Saffet Akbas headed past his own goalkeeper from an Arif Erdem cross to give Galatasaray a 1-0 lead, and when Ferdi Yanik was dismissed three minutes later for a challenge on Hasan Sas, the task became easier for the leaders.

Second red card
It became easier still after Istanbulspor's Bulgarian goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov became the second home player to be red carded after he brought down Ümit Karan in the box after 37 minutes. Arif stroked the resulting spot-kick past replacement keeper Haluk Güngör to complete the victory.

Samsunspor go down
Samsunspor's hopes of 1. Lig survival took another knock after they went down to a 4-3 home defeat against Denizlispor in a thrilling match. Petri Juhani Helin scored the winner for the visitors after 71 minutes to leave Samsunspor third-from-bottom, three points from the safety zone.

No joy for Yozgatspor
Basement club Yozgatspor are virtually relegated after only managing a 1-1 draw at MKE Ankaragücü. Yaw Preko put the strugglers ahead in the 26th minute but Niyazi Güney cancelled out their lead. In today's other game, mid-tablers Göztepe and Gençlerbirligi SK also shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.