Many happy returns for Nobre

By Türker Tozar

Turkish SuperLeague leaders Fenerbahçe SK defeated this season's surprise team BB Ankaraspor 1-0 at the Sükrü Saraçoglu stadium thanks to a goal from Brazilian striker Márcio Nobre on his 24th birthday.

Sahin sent off
Nobre headed home a free-kick by compatriot Alex in the 35th minute and both he and another Brazilian, Marco Aurélio, also hit the bar. The Istanbul outfit ended the match with ten men after the dismissal of Selçuk Sahin for his second bookable offence.

Historic win
Diyarbakirspor defeated Galatasaray SK for the first time in 27 years with a 2-0 win. Midfielder Yasin Sülün, on loan from Besiktas JK, opened the scoring just before half-time, then Karim Abdoul Sylla added a second in injury time.

Back in second
Trabzonspor's 2-0 away win over MKE Ankaragücü helped them reclaim second place after Galatasaray's defeat. Turkish international duo Gökdeniz Karadeniz and Fatih Tekke were on target.

Carew to the rescue
Besiktas, winners over Athletic Club Bilbao in the UEFA Cup last week, saved a point away to ten-man Konyaspor thanks to a injury-time penalty by John Carew. The Istanbul side had taken the initiative when Tayfun Korkut scored early on. After the dismissal of Ernani Pereira, striker Zafer Biryol then scored two penalties to put depleted Konyaspor ahead. The home team fought bravely in the latter stages but could not stop Carew's equaliser.

A win at last
Gaziantepspor beat Samsunspor 3-1 at the Samsun 19 Mayis stadium and ended their five-match wait for a victory. The home side had goalkeeper Kerem Inan dismissed in the 21st minute after fouling Ziad Jaziri and Zdravko Lazarov made no mistake from the penalty. Ziad Jaziri then made it 2-0 and although Samsunspor pulled one back through Celil Sagir's brilliant chip, Erhan Namli ended the home side's hopes with a last-minute goal.

Matching draws
Akçaabat Sebatspor salvaged a point from Malatyaspor after a 1-1 draw at the Fatih stadium. Yunus Altun gave the visitors the lead before veteran Orhan Kaynak levelled. That was also the score when Istanbulspor AS met Denizlispor with Ahmet Dursun putting Istanbulspor ahead and Burak Özsaraç notching the equaliser.

Up to fifth
Çaykur Rizespor benefited from Malatyaspor's slip and moved into fifth place with a 2-0 win over the bottom side, Sakaryaspor AS, Kürsat Duymus and Fahri Tatan scoring.

First away win
Gençlerbirligi SK, finally, celebrated their first away victory of the season, 2-1 at Kayserispor. Winger Ali Tandogan's free-kick gave the Ankara side the lead before Abdelzaher El Saka's own goal brought the scores level. Filip Daems' penalty proved decisive.