Fenerbahçe flourish with Anelka

By Türker Tozar

Nicolas Anelka helped Fenerbahçe SK open up a four-point lead at the top of the Turkish Superleague after Galatasaray SK surprisingly lost at Samsunspor.

Own goal
Tunisian Kais Ghodhbane put Samsunspor ahead on 52 minutes and the home side were 2-0 up when Stjepan Tomas headed the ball into his own net 14 minutes later. Hakan Sükür gave Galatasaray fans hope with an 80th-minute penalty but it served only as a consolation goal.

Five-point gap
Galatasaray now trail leaders Fenerbahçe by five points, after they defeated last-placed Akçaabat Sebatspor 2-0 courtesy of second-half goals from Anelka and Alex. Trabzonspor replaced Galatasaray in second after they defeated Denizlispor 3-0 at Hüseyin Avni Aker stadium. Fatih Tekke was on target twice while Miroslaw Szymkowiak added his name to the scoresheet with the third.

Ünal dismissed
Fourth-placed Besiktas JK defeated struggling Sakaryaspor AS 2-1 at the Inönü stadium. Tümer Metin and John Carew claimed the home side's goals while Emre Toraman scored a consolation for Sakaryaspor, who had Mesut Ünal sent off for dissent six minutes from time.

Relegation issue
At the other end of the table, Victoria’s 90th-minute equaliser for Çaykur Rizespor denied 16th-placed İstanbulspor AS a much-needed win, after Aleksandar Yordanov had given them a 45th-minute lead. Nevertheless the draw means they are now only one point behind Sakaryaspor in 15th place and two points clear of Kayserispor, who sit one from bottom and lost 3-1 at home against Konyaspor.

Konyaspor rally
Bülent Karaman had given the home side a 42nd-minute lead, but three minutes later Erhan Albayrak equalised for Konyaspor. Erhan doubled his goal tally for the day to put the visitors in front in the second half, while Levent Katrop added a third.

Penalty hero
Gençlerbirligi SK returned to Ankara happy after claiming a 3-1 win at Diyarbakirspor. Josip Skoko opened the scoring on 23 minutes before Mustafa Özkan made it two in the 37th minute. Sinan Kaloglu pulled one back for the home side, but Ugur Boral restored Gençlerbirligi’s two-goal lead with his team’s third to compound Diyarbakispor's misery after having two penalties saved by Gençlerbirligi goalkeeper Ömer Çatkiç.

Malatyaspor humbled
Elsewhere, Brazilian Jaba scored the only goal of the game to give BB Ankaraspor victory against Gaziantespor while MKE Ankaragücü secured a comfortable 3-0 win against Malatyaspor with goals from Umut Bulut, Cenk Isler and Augustine Ahinful.