Alanyaspor extends stay atop Süper Lig

ANTALYA

Alanyaspor beat Beşiktaş 2-1 at home on Dec. 13 to stay atop the Turkish Süper Lig standings.

Anastasios Bakasetas successfully converted a penalty shot in the 26th minute to give a 1-0 lead to the home side.

The Greek international doubled the score in the 79th minute to make things easier for the league leader.

However, Alanyaspor was reduced to 10 men after Khouma Babacar was sent off in the 82nd minute, leading to increased pressure from the visitors.

Vincent Aboubakar pulled one back for Beşiktaş from a penalty shot in the dying minutes, but it was too little too late.

Alanyaspor maintained its impressive form in the league, sitting at the top of the table with 26 points in 12 games, three points ahead of Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe.

Beşiktaş allowed a three-game winning streak end in Alanya, missing the chance to cut the gap with the leader.

Beşiktaş is fourth with 19 points.

In another Süper Lig match, defending champion Başakşehir lost 2-1 at home to Gaziantep.

Fenerbahce suffered a shocking 3-0 loss to Malatyaspor.

Adem Büyük converted a penalty shot to score the opener while the away team doubled the lead with Umut Bulut’s header in the 21st minute.

Turkish veteran forward Umut Bulut managed to score against Fenerbahçe with five different clubs during his career: Malatyaspor, Kayserispor, Galatasaray, Trabzonspor and Ankaragücü.

In the second half, Youssouf Ndayishimiye made the score 3-0, and Malatyaspor sealed an easy win in Istanbul.

Fenerbahçe is on a three-match home losing streak for the first time in its league history.

Elsewhere in the Süper Lig, Kasımpaşa beat Denizlispor 3-2, Hatayspor won 3-1 at home over Karagümrük, Kayserispor and Trabzonspor played a goalless draw in Kayseri, Göztepe lost 3-2 at Rizespor, Ankaragücü grabbed its first victory of the season beating Konyaspor 4-3 at home and Gençlerbirliği won 1-0 at Erzurumspor.

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