Beşiktaş beats Fenerbahçe to break Kadıköy jinx

ISTANBUL

Beşiktaş beat Fenerbahçe 4-3 in an Istanbul derby in the Turkish Süper Lig on Nov. 29 night, ending its 15-year winless spell on the Asian side of the city.

The last time Beşiktaş had won at Fenerbahçe’s home was on April 17, 2005, when it won with the same result.

On Nov. 29, Beşiktaş went ahead as early as the fourth minute when Cameroonian forward Vincent Aboubakar scored with a left-footed strike in the area to beat Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Altay Bayındır.

Aboubakar scored his second in the 20th minute before Fenerbahçe forward Papiss Demba Cisse pulled one back in the 34th minute of the game.

Beşiktaş was left with 10 men on the pitch in the 50th minute when forward Cyle Larin was sent off after receiving his second yellow card following a foul against Fenerbahçe right back Gökhan Gönül.

Beşiktaş midfielder Necip Uysal, who has scored his last league goal on Oct. 26, 2015, returned to scoring ways in the 53rd minute to double the gap.

Ozan Tufan scored for the home side in the 68th minute to make it 3-2, with the home side increasing the pressure for another goal.

But Beşiktaş resisted the pressure with 10 men and made the best use of the open space when Fabrice N’Sakala scored his side’s fourth goal on a quick counterattack in the 88th minute. Georges-Kevin N’Koudou was the mastermind behind the goal, assisting after an amazing run in the right flank.

Fenerbahçe was awarded a penalty shot in the dying minutes after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review following Senegalese winger Mame Thiam’s foul in the area. Ozan Tufan successfully converted the shot to declare the game’s score.

With the victory, Beşiktaş increased its points tally to 16 in nine matches to be placed fourth, while Fenerbahçe remained on 20 points in 10 games.

Beşiktaş coach Sergen Yalçın, who was a part of the Beşiktaş squad in 2005’s victory, was delighted with the result.

“We needed three points to be in the title race,” Yalçın said after the game.

“My players fought today to win a very important game. We have a very long season ahead of us, and we need to spread this performance to the whole season.”

After the weekend’s Süper Lig games, unbeaten Alanyaspor extended its lead atop the standings with a 1-0 win over Konyaspor, increasing its points tally to 23 in nine matches.

Galatasaray, which thrashed Rizespor 4-0 on Nov. 28 thanks to a hat-trick from Senegalese forward Mbaye Diagne, sits in the second spot with 20 points in 10 games.

Elsewhere, Trabzonspor won 1-0 at Ankaragücü, defending champions Başakşehir was held to a 3-3 draw at home by Denizlispor, Malatyaspor saved a point at Gaziantep with a 2-2 draw, Gençlerbirliği’s slump continued with a 2-0 loss at Kasımpaşa and Erzurumspor failed to score the winner in a 2-2 draw at home against Antalyaspor.