Brazilians help Fenerbahçe flourish

By Türker Tozar

Fenerbahçe SK won 3-0 against Konyaspor as they opened up a four-point gap at the top of the Turkish Superleague following Galatasaray SK's draw with Denizlispor.

Brazilian goals
Fenerbahçe's Brazilian pair Alex and Márcio Nobre were again on target as they took their combined total to 21 in 17 matches this season. Alex broke the deadlock eight minutes before the interval, capitalising on goalkeeper Özden Öngün's error. Tuncay Sanli doubled the lead two minutes into the second half before Nobre completed the scoring with an injury-time penalty after Özden had been dismissed. It was the the second spot-kick of the match after Rüstü Reçber had saved Zafer Biryol's effort just before half-time.

Mondragón heroics
It marked a good recovery for Fenerbahçe from last weekend's defeat by Galatasaray, which had closed the gap at the top to just two points. However, Gheorghe Hagi's side were unable to build upon last weekend's vistory as they were held to a goalless draw at Denizlispor. The home side had the better of the match and only heroics from goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón denied them three points.

Trabzonspor tie
Denizlispor remain fourth, seven points adrift of third-placed Trabzonspor who conceded a last-minute goal as they were held to a 1-1 draw by relegation-threatened Istanbulspor. Güven Kocabal cancelled out Fatih Tekke ninth-minute opener as his side earned a point. Çaykur Rizespor remain fifth after yet another draw in Ankara, a goalless stalemate with MKE Ankaragücü.

Besiktas resurgence
Besiktas JK's renaissance continued to gain pace as they stretched their unbeaten run to nine with a 6-1 defeat of bottom-side Akçaabat Sebatspor. Romanian Daniel Pancu scored twice while Ibrahim Üzülmez, Ahmed Hassan, Veysel Cihan and Berkant Göktan were also on target. Orhan Kaynak scored the consolation for Sebatspor, who played much of the second half with ten men after Hamza Gezmis' 56th-minute dismissal.

Tita hat-trick
Second-bottom side Kayserispor also lost heavily as Tita scored a hat-trick in BB Ankaraspor's 4-1 win, while Sakaryaspor AS were on the other end of that scoreline as they moved up to 15th. Second-half goals from Fatih Sen, Abdülkadir Saksak and a Fatih Ceylan double earned them a comprehensive win against Malatyaspor.

Samsunspor defeat
Diyarbakirspor ended a run of four games without a win with a conclusive 3-0 victory against the team that began the weekend three places ahead of them, Samsunspor. Elsewhere, Erhan Namli's 36th-minute solitary strike was enough to earn Gaziantepspor three points against Gençlerbirligi SK.