Coachless Beşiktaş wants to turn tide in league

ISTANBUL

Defending Turkish Süper Lig champion Beşiktaş wants to end its poor run in the competition when it hosts Kayserispor on Dec. 12 despite heading to the game with an interim coach.

Reserve team coach Önder Karaveli will be in charge this weekend after the club announced on Dec. 9 that it had parted ways with coach Sergen Yalçın.

“We have parted ways by mutual agreement with Sergen Yalçın, who has been the coach of our Professional Football Team since Jan. 29, 2020,” Beşiktaş said in a brief statement.

“We would like to thank our coach, who won the Süper Lig and Turkish Cup titles with our team during his term, for his work and wish him success in his future life,” the Istanbul club added.

The decision came in the wake of a 5-0 loss at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Dec. 7, which was the last straw amid a poor run in both domestic and European competitions.

Beşiktaş completed the Champions League group stage with no points, conceding 19 goals in six games and scoring just three.

Its season so far in the Süper Lig has not been much different, as the team could salvage just a draw at Kasımpaşa on Dec. 3 after losing four matches in a row.

With six losses and three draws in the first 15 matches of the season, Beşiktaş currently sits in ninth spot in the Süper Lig standings, 18 points behind leader Trabzonspor.

The leader, meanwhile, is flying high, as the season’s only unbeaten team is currently on an eight-game winning streak. Leading its closest opponent, Konyaspor, by 12 points, the Black Sea side will aim to keep its fans cheering when it visits Antalyaspor on Dec. 11.

Two Istanbul clubs, which completed their Europa League group stage campaigns on Dec. 9, will play their league games in a Monday shift.

Galatasaray, having finished atop its group following a goalless draw at Lazio to advance to the last 16 stage, will try to end its four-game winless run at Sivasspor.

Fenerbahçe, which was held to a 1-1 draw by Eintracht Frankfurt at home and will continue its European campaign in the Conference League after finishing third in its group, will aim for its ninth victory of the season when it travels to Gaziantep.

Elsewhere in the Süper Lig’s Week 16 games, second-placed Konyaspor visits Karagümrük, Başakşehir hosts Kasımpaşa and Rizespor plays Göztepe at home on Dec. 11.

In Dec. 12’s games, Adana Demirspor entertains Giresunspor and Alanyaspor travels to Malatyaspor.