Beşiktaş, Başakşehir chase leader in Turkish Super League

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Beşiktaş beat Göztepe in İzmir 3-1 late on Nov. 5, in the Turkish Super League’s 11th match week, while second-place Başakşehir continued to keep the heat on league-leader Galatasaray. 

Beşiktaş took the lead in the 7th minute when Brazilian Anderson Talisca’s 12-meter header beat the Göztepe goalkeeper.

The Istanbul club, Turkey’s current champion, then double-fired in the second half, with Ryan Babel increasing the lead to 2-0 in the 47th minute and Cenk Tosun adding another in the 53rd minute.

Göztepe pulled one back in the 66th minute but Beşiktaş ended up cruising to victory.

The win increased Besiktas’ total points to 21, putting them in third place. Göztepe is now in 8th place with 17 points. 

In another clash on Nov. 5, Başakşehir beat Yeni Malatyaspor 2-0 away from home in the Central Anatolian province.

Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Turkish striker Mevlut Erdinç were on board for the away team, and Başakşehir increased its total points to 23, three behind Galatasaray.

Başakşehir will meet Galatasaray at their home Vodafone Stadium on Nov. 18 after an international break.

Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe’s struggles continued over the weekend as it failed to defend a lead against Osmanlıspor in Ankara late on Nov. 4. 

The Yellow Canaries took the lead in the first half but Osmanlıspor’s 89th minute goal meant another two points dropped for Fenerbahçe, with the final score being 1-1..

Fenerbahçe now find themselves nine points behind the leader, sitting on 17 points after 11 matches.

The Istanbul club’s start to the season is their worst in 27 years, since they the accumulated only 16 points after 11 matches in the 1990-91 season.

In the opening game of the week on Nov. 3.Galatasaray enjoyed a comfortable 5-1 victory over Ankara club Gençlerbirliği, which is struggling at the bottom of the standings.