Turkey round-up: Galatasaray close the gap

Galatasaray SK moved to within a point of Turkish Super League leaders Besiktas JK with a 3-0 win at home to Elazigspor.

Galatasaray closing in
Galatasaray took full advantage of Besiktas's 1-1 draw at Gaziantepspor to close the gap at the top. Ümit Karan scored goals in each half either side of Hasan Sas’s 47th-minute strike to give the Istanbul side a comfortable three points.

Late drama
Besiktas fell behind at Gaziantepspor as Ibrahim Toraman headed Maxim Romaschenko's corner into the net after 21 minutes, but equalised with 16 minutes left through Pascal Nouma. However, Besiktas were somewhat fortunate to leave with a point, as Besiktas goalkeeper saved Maxim Romaschenko's penalty with 12 minutes remaining, before the away side lost midfield player Yasin Sülün for a second bookable offence after 83 minutes.

Gençlerbirligi win again
Gençlerbirligi SK consolidated third place with a 3-1 away victory at Denizlispor, having taken the lead late in the first half through Ahmed Hassan's goal only for Henrich Bencik to equalise three minutes into the second period. However, second-half strikes from Abdelzaher El Saka and Mustafa Gürsel sealed the three points for the visitors.

Comfortable win
Trabzonspor moved into fourth place with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Bursaspor through strikes from Fatih Tekke and Marco Aurelio and an Ömer Kiliç own goal. Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe SK’s faltering challenge suffered a further blow as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Altay GK, with the only goal of the game arriving 16 minutes from time, as Altay striker Sinan Kaloglu dispossessed Mustafa Dogan and shot past goalkeeper Rüstü Reçber.

Kocaelispor comeback
At the bottom of the table, Kocaelispor closed the gap on second bottom side Göztepe with a 2-1 victory, although Senol Yavas had given Göztepe the lead after 18 minutes, but goals from Ugur Yasan and Grigol Imedadze turned the match on its head.

Entertaining match
MKE Ankaragücü defeated Samsunspor 3-2 in an exciting game which the away side led 2-1 at half-time thanks to two Serkan Aykut goals. However, two goals in the final 14 minutes from Hakan Kutlu and Augustine added to Stephen Baidoo’s first-half strike and secured victory for Ankaragücü.

Point apiece
Diyarbakirspor and Istanbulspor AS drew 1-1, with the away side taking the lead after 18 minutes through Mehmet Yozgatli, but Diyarbakirspor salvaged a point in the second half through Evren Turhan’s 63rd-minute equaliser.

Late winner
A goal from Fazli Ulusoy ten minutes from time secured a 1-0 win for Malatyaspor at home to Adanaspor AS, although Hasan Özer had earlier missed a penalty for the home side.