Fenerbahçe take Turkish title

By Türker Tozar

Fenerbahçe SK have been crowned Turkish Superleague champions for a record 16th time following their 1-0 win against city rivals Galatasaray SK, who have been edged out of the UEFA Champions League qualifying berths after Trabzonspor comprehensively defeated Samsunspor.

Nobre delight
Galatasaray appeared the more composed side throughout the match at Sükrü Saracoglu stadium, but it was the home team who proved the more clinical as Brazilian forward Márcio Nobre scored the decisive goal with a 65th-minute header to give Christoph Daum's side back-to-back titles with a game to spare.

Double dismissal
To make matters worse for Galatasaray, Trabzonspor have moved a point ahead of them into second after Ziya Dogan's men swept aside Samsunspor 3-0. Headed goals from Miroslaw Szymkowiak and Mehmet Yilmaz gave Trazbonspor a two-goal lead going into the final ten minutes, before leading scorer Fatih Tekke struck his 30th goal of the campaign in added time. Samsunspor ended the game with nine men following the dismissals of Ercan Ünal and Ergin Yücetas after 63 and 70 minutes respectively.

Istanbulspor down
Trabzonspor can guarantee second spot next week if they overcome Istanbulspor, who were relegated following defeat at BB Ankaraspor. An Ümit Karan double and one goal from Jaba had given the home side a three-goal advantage, before Istanbulspor hit back through Uche Okechukwu and Musasa Kabamba to reduce the deficit.

Diyarbakispor danger
Elsewhere at the bottom, Sakaryaspor AS moved out of the relegation zone by a point after defeating already-relegated Akçaabat Sebatspor 4-2. They are replaced in the drop zone by Diyarbakispor, who saw Sinan Kaloglu's goal cancelled out by Istvan Ferenczi for Rizespor.

Tümer winner
As a result, Kayserispor's safety margin was reduced to just two points due to their 3-2 defeat at the hands of UEFA Cup qualifiers Besiktas JK. An own goal from Levent Kayatekin put the Istanbul club ahead after two minutes before Ergün Teber's header restored parity on 19 minutes. But Besiktas were back in front by the break through Ibrahim Toraman and Tümer Metin, though Gökhan Ünal did score a late consolation for Kayserispor.

Ankaragücü safe
Meanwhile, MKE Ankaragücü safeguarded their top-flight status with a 1-1 draw against Konyaspor. Gençlerbirligi SK's game with Denizlispor ended with the same scoreline, while Gaziantepspor emerged victorious in a seven-goal thriller against Malatyaspor courtesy of Gökhan Güleç and Zdravko Lazarav who hit two goals apiece.