Turkey round-up: Murat strike seals win
Friday, February 8, 2002
Article summary
Murat Sözkesen scored the only goal as leaders Galatasaray SK beat Malatyaspor in Istanbul.
Article body
Murat Sözkesen scored the only goal at the Ali Semi Yen stadium on Friday as Galatasaray SK maintained their league leadership with a 1-0 win over Malatyaspor.
Two sent off
Mircea Lucescu's side claimed three points to extend their advantage in the 1. Lig to six points over Besiktas JK. Both teams finished with ten men after Malatyaspor's Mert Korkmaz and Galatasaray's Sébastien Perez were dismissed.
Chances missed
Sergen Yalçin and Perez both missed decent opportunities to put Galatasaray in front in the opening 20 minutes, and visiting goalkeeper Petar Milosevski denied another Sergen long-range effort ten minutes later. The keeper was quick off the mark to deny both Bülent Korkmaz and Berkant Göktan nine minutes after that.
Decisive goal
The home side's pressure waned just after the break, but Andres Fleurquin started the raids once again with a header wide from Perez's cross. Galatasaray got the decisive goal on the hour mark, as Murat headed home Ergün Penbe's cross to seal the three points.
