Galatasaray gaining momentum

By Türker Tozar

Galatasaray SK cut Fenerbahçe SK’s advantage at the Turkish Superleague summit to four points after defeating Akçaabat Sebatspor, while the league leaders lost out in a seven-goal thriller with Besiktas JK.

Interval lead
Tümer Metin put Besiktas ahead at Sükrü Saraçoglu stadium after 27 minutes, only for the home side to respond through Fabio Luciano’s overhead kick six minutes later, though the Dark Eagles went in at half time ahead thanks to John Carew’s 45th-minute header. Alex brought the game all-square once more when he found the net on 69 minutes, before Ibrahim Akin regained the visitors’ initiative seven minutes later.

Goalkeeping loss
However, Besiktas were forced to play the final ten minutes with ten men after goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba was dismissed for dissent, with Romanian striker Daniel Pancu keeping goal as coach Riza Çalimbay had used all his substitutions. But it mattered little as Koray Avci scored an added-time winner for Besiktas after Alex had equalised again with an 83rd-minute penalty.

Quickfire win
Galatasaray are now back to within four points of the leaders after winning at basement side Akçaabat Sebatspor, who took a surprise eleventh-minute lead through Yusuf Simsek. But Gheorghe Hagi’s men levelled courtesy of Sabri Sarioglu two minutes before the break, and sealed victory with two goals in three second-half minutes from Orhan Ak and Hasan Kabze.

Cup blow
Two points further back, Trabzonspor continued their pursuit of Galatasaray after the league's leading goalscorer, Fatih Tekke, scored a 17th-minute spot-kick to secure victory at Diyarbakirspor. However, the Black Sea club lost influential midfield player Gökdeniz Karadeniz in the last minute for dissent, meaning he misses Wednesday’s Turkish Cup semi-final with Galatasaray.

Fading hopes
There was no joy at the foot of the table, with the strugglers all failing to win. MKE Ankaragucu lost 5-2 to BB Ankaraspor, despite taking the lead twice, while Istanbulspor AS and Sakaryaspor suffered two-goal reverses to Gençlerbirligi SK and Konyaspor, respectively. Kayserispor were the only team at the bottom to gain a point after drawing their fifth consecutive game against Malatyaspor.

Double dismissal
Elsewhere, Samsunspor moved ten points clear of the drop zone after a 4-0 win against Turkish Cup semi-finalists Denizlispor in fifth place, while sixth-placed Rizespor failed to capitalise after drawing 1-1 with Gaziantepspor, in a game where both sides played 87 minutes with ten men following the dismissals of Sedat Agçay and Fahri Tatan.