Turkey round-up: Besiktas lead the way

Besiktas JK maintained their one-point advantage at the head of the Turkish Super League standings with a 2-0 home win against Denizlispor.

Perfect start
The home side controlled the match from start to finish and went ahead after seven minutes, as Tayfur Havutçu's shot rebounded to Antonio Zago, who found the net. The home side then had a golden chance to virtually seal the win after 20 minutes as Denizlispor defender Servet Çetin fouled Ilhan Mansiz in the penalty area, but Ilhan's resulting spot-kick was saved by Dirk Heinen.

Well-worked second
However, Besiktas did take a 2-0 lead after 33 minutes as Sergen Yalçin played a one-two with Pascal Nouma before placing the ball pasy Heinen. Denizlispor captain Ali Tandogan was dismissed eight minutes from time.

First-half excitement
Galatasaray SK kept up the pressure on the leaders with a 3-1 defeat of Diyarbakirspor, taking the lead after five minutes through Ümit Karan, who saw a 25th-minute shot hit the post. Galatasaray then lost Hasan Sas to a red card, while Diyarbakirspor's Evren Turhan was also sent off after 33 minutes.

Late drama
Volkan Arslan doubled Galatasaray's lead just before half-time, but Murat Hacioglu gave the away side hope second before the interval, only for Cihan Haspolatli's third goal to ensure Galatasaray's win.

Early goals
Gençlerbirligi maintained their own championship challenge with a comfortable 3-0 win against Malatyaspor. The home side took an eighth-minute lead through Mustafa Gürsel, and it was 2-0 four minutes later as Abdelzaher El Saka headed Filip Daems' corner into the net. Malatyaspor came close to getting back into the game in the 69th minute as Timuçin Beyazit and Sertan Eser both hit the post in quick succession, before Bülent Karaman wrapped up the win with five minutes remaining.

Fenerbahçe out of form
Fenerbahçe SK's recent poor run continued as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Adanaspor AS, who took hold of the match with first-half strikes from Cafer Aydin and a Necati Ates penalty. Semih Sentürk pulled a goal back midway through the second period, but a second penalty from Necati confirmed the result.

Samsunspor success
Elsewhere, Samsunspor recovered from Ilhan Özbay's goal to record a 2-1 success against Gaziantespor, with two goals in six first-half minutes from Oktay Derelioglu and Júnior, while Samsunspor defender Osman Özköylü was dismissed for his second bookable offence ten minutes after half-time.

Contrasting fortunes
Meanwhile, Trabzonspor recovered from two goals down inside 24 minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw at bottom side Kocaelispor, while MKE Ankaragücü were 2-0 winners at struggling Bursaspor and another club threatened by relegation, Göztepe, were defeated 3-1 at Istanbulspor AS. Altay GK were resounding 5-1 winners at home to Elazigspor, with Emmanuel Owona scoring twice.