Fenerbahçe in seventh heaven

By Türker Tozar

Turkish Superleague leaders Fenerbahçe SK bounced back from Thursday’s 1-0 UEFA Cup defeat at the hands of Real Zaragoza by crushing Kayserispor 7-0, while Galatasaray SK and Trabzonspor kept up the pressure at the top with one-goal wins.

Nobre double
Captain Ümit Özat opened the scoring for Fenerbahçe at the Sükrü Saraçoglu, before assisting Alex for his side’s second goal on 56 minutes. Two minutes later, Tuncay Sanli made it 3-0 and then Marcio Nobre struck twice to give the home side a five-goal lead. Marco Aurelio’s long-range effort added another to the score and Serhat Akin rounded off proceedings by scoring the seventh.

Centenary glory
A 29th-minute Hakan Sükür penalty was enough to give second-placed Galatasaray all three-points against Sakaryaspor and keep them two points behind the leaders to maintain their bid for the title in their centenary year. Two points further back, Trabzonspor also won 1-0 versus Gençlerbirligi SK thanks to Fatih Tekke’s powerful header.

Besiktas win again
On Friday, Besiktas SK celebrated their seventh successive league victory after winning away at Gaziantepspor by a single goal from Veysel Cihan in the seventh minute. That win put them five points clear of fifth-placed Denizlispor, who drew 1-1 at home to BB Ankaraspor on Saturday. The visitors took the lead through Ümit Karan’s well-executed chip but not long after, Denizlspor equalised courtesy of Serhat Gülpinar.

Derby win
In the Black sea derby, a goal by Cem Baki was enough to earn Rizespor victory against Samsunspor and move just one point behind Denizlspor. It was Erdogan Arica’s first win as Rizespor coach but the performance was tarnished by Fahri Tatan's red card in the last minute.

Bolic match-winner
In seventh place, Malatyaspor remain two points further back after defeating Diyarbakirspor 2-1 at home. Murat Erdogan opened the scoring with a 25-metre free-kick eight minutes into the game but Diyarbakirspor’s Sinan Demircioglu scored an equaliser 20 minutes later with a well-taken volley. Malatyaspor regained the lead with just 17 minutes left when Elvir Bolic scored a decisive header.

Seventh draw
At the foot of the table, last-placed Akçaabat Sebatspor recorded their seventh draw of the season in a goalless match with MKE Ankaragücü, but remain five points off their nearest rivals Kayserispor, while Istanbulspor AS, who are third from bottom, salvaged a point from Konyaspor after a 2-2 draw at home.