Anelka helps Fenerbahçe stay top

By Türker Tozar

Nicolas Anelka scored his first goal for his new club Fenerbahçe SK on Sunday when they maintained their 100 per cent home record with a 4-0 win against struggling Istanbulspor AS to stay top of the Turkish Super League.

Tenth win
The French striker, who moved to Fenerbahçe from Manchester City last month, also hit the bar as Fenerbahçe chalked up their tenth successive home win of the season. Brazilian Marcio Nobre was on target twice, while Fabio Luciano added the other. Rüstü Reçber denied relegation-threatened Istanbulspor a consolation by saving Alex Yardnov's 76th-minute penalty.

Sukur double
The victory lifted Fenerbahçe on to 50 points from 20 matches, two more than Galatasaray SK, who won 3-0 at Çaykur Rizespor where a 51st-minute own goal from Cem Baki and two in the last five minutes from Hakan Sükür sealed the points. Trabzonspor stayed third on 46 points with a 3-0 home win against Malatyaspor thanks to goals from Gökdeniz Karadeniz, Ibrahima Yattara and Fatih Tekke.

Down to nine
Besiktas JK made sure the top four sides all won when they defeated fifth-placed Denizlispor 2-0 although Besiktas finished with only nine men after defender Ronaldo Guiaro was sent off after 19 minutes and Tümer followed him on the hour. Tümer had a lively match, missing a penalty after 24 minutes and then giving his side the lead ten minutes before his red cad. Ahmet Yildirim completed the scoring for Besiktas.

Point saved
At the other end of the table, relegation strugglers Sakaryaspor AS drew 2-2 with Gaziantepspor despite leading 2-0 at half-time thanks to two goals from Ali Cansun Begeçarslan. Tunisian striker Ziad Jaziri saved a point for the visitors with two second-half goals.

Dramatic finish
MKE Ankaragücü, hovering just clear of the relegation zone, and Kayserispor, just one place off the bottom, played out a 2-2 draw after Kayserispor led twice. Thomas Pesir put the visitors ahead after 32 minutes before Ankaragücü’s Umut Bulut levelled soon after half-time. Three minutes from time Pini Balili appeared to have wrapped up three vital points, but Ismet Tasdemir equalised just before the end.

Bleak future
The future looks even bleaker for bottom club Akçaabat Sebatspor, who lost for the sixth successive match, defeated 1-0 at Diyarbakirspor with Goran Stavrevski scoring ten minutes from time. Both teams finished with ten men following the dismissals of Sebatspor’s Hakan Bayraktar and Diyarbakirspor’s Zafer Uysal.