Beşiktaş unable to ‘keep calm’ before Istanbul derby

ANKARA

AFP photo

Ankara’s Gençlerbirliği gave Turkish Spor Toto Super League title contender Beşiktaş a big disappointment ahead of a key derby match against rival Fenerbahçe, which claimed the top of the standings in the fifth week of the campaign. 

The Black and Whites had a strong start to the game, though fell short of creating enough chances before left-back Dusko Tosic scored an own goal in the 23rd minute. 

Substituting Portuguese star Ricardo Quaresma in the second half with striker Cenk Tosun, the Istanbul side played relatively more productive football in the second half and leveled matters in the 67th minute through Gökhan Töre’s header, the 3,000th goal in the team’s history. 

Beşiktaş boosted the pressure for the remainder of the game as Gençlerbirliği eyed counterattacks but neither side managed to find a winner. 

“We had to keep calm, we could have found a goal when our opponents panicked,” said Beşiktaş coach Şenol Güneş in a post-game interview. 

“A goal from a set piece increased the motivation of our opponents and we are sorry for the two points lost,” said Gençlerbirliği coach Mehmet Özdilek, a former Beşiktaş star. 

Fenerbahçe managed to take away three points from a match against Bursaspor on Sept. 20, winning 2-1 thanks to a winner netted by Robin van Persie, and now leads the table with 13 points, followed by Besiktaş and Trabzonspor with 10 points each.

However, Fener’s Dutch scorer did not hide his dissatisfaction with his current position in last year’s runner-up, saying, “To be honest, I am not very happy at this moment,” after the match.

“I was not happy that I started on the bench. I am fully fit, physically very well and able to play for 90 minutes,” he said. 

The Sept. 28 Beşiktaş-Fenerbahçe derby may change a lot at the top of the league, while on Sept. 27 Trabzon will be visiting Ankara’s Osmanlıspor, which stood strong this week, beating Mersin İdmanyurdu 4-0 away. 

Defending champions Galatasaray is positioned eighth with eight points, having narrowly beaten Trabzon away 1-0 on Sept. 19.

Antalyaspor’s Samuel Eto’o leads the top scorers’ list with five goals, but his side suffered a 5-1 away lost against Çaykur Rizespor on Sept. 19, as the home side’s Deniz Kadah enjoyed a hat-trick. 

Sivasspor and Torku Konyaspor failed to break a deadlock in 90 minutes the same day as Kasımpaşa, another Istanbul team, won 3-0 against Eskişehirspor in the central Anatolian city. 

Gaziantep won 1-0 against Kaysesirspor on Sept. 20 as Istanbul’s Medipol Başakşehir beat Akhisar Belediye 2-0 in the opening game of week five.