Fenerbahçe back in the frame

Fenerbahçe SK defeated UEFA Cup hopefuls Gaziantepspor 5-1 to reap maximum reward from Besiktas JK’s scoreless draw with Malatyaspor and reduce the gap at the top of the Turkish Superleague to three points.

Ümit inspiration
Turkish international defender Ümit Özat inspired the important victory, adding a second-half goal to the two he scored in the first for a memorable hat-trick. Márcio Nobre and Tuncay Sanli also weighed in, ensuring that Hasan Özer’s 90th-minute effort was in vain.

Off mark
Third-placed Trabzonspor edged aside Rizespor 1-0 thanks to Gökdeniz Karadeniz’s 23rd-minute winner while Galatasaray SK, in fourth, defeated Konyaspor 2-1 to end a two-match winless streak. Necati Ates opened his account for the Istanbul team for the first and Portuguese defender César Prates doubled the lead. A consolation strike from Zafer Biryol in the final stages was too late to put the result in jeopardy.

Surprise defeat
Denizlispor, in fifth, suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at the hands of MKE Ankaragücü in a match with seven yellow cards and the dismissals of Ersen Martin and Hakan Keles. Gençlerbirligi SK, meanwhile, gave themselves the perfect boost ahead of next week’s UEFA Cup tie with Parma AC. Serkan Balci and Filip Daems were the architects of a 2-0 victory against Bursaspor.

Other games
Elsewhere, Kais Ghodhbane converted two penalties in Diyarbakirspor’s 3-1 defeat of bottom club Adanaspor AS, who were reduced to ten men when Murat Hacioglu was sent-off nine minutes from time, and Istanbulspor AS drew 0-0 with Samsunspor to extend their winless run to six weeks. Struggling Elazigspor gained a vital 3-1 win against Akçaabat Sebatspor in a game postponed until Monday due to bad weather.