Fenerbahçe suffers shock defeat at home

ISTANBUL

Fenerbahçe lost 1-0 at home to Göztepe in a Turkish Süper Lig game on Feb. 21, suffering its second loss in three games to falter in the title race.

Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe’s archrival and league leader, grabbed a hard-fought 1-0 win at Alanyaspor on Feb. 20 to increase the gap with its rivals to three points.

Beşiktaş kept its place in the second spot despite having a bye week.

In Istanbul, Halil Akbunar scored the winner for Göztepe in the ninth minute on a quick counterattack.

Despite controlling the ball for most of the game, Fenerbahçe failed to create scoring chances and suffered its fifth home defeat of the season, the most in the last 28 seasons.

With fans losing patience and the pressure mounting over coach Erol Bulut, Fenerbahçe plays on-form Trabzonspor next weekend.

The Black Sea side is on a seven-game winning streak and has not lost in its last 10 games, climbing up to the fourth spot with 48 points.

Trabzonspor’s latest victory came on Feb. 19 when it beat Başakşehir by 1-0 in an away game, pushing the defending champion further to the relegation zone.

Elsewhere in the Süper Lig over the weekend, Gençlerbirliği lost 1-0 to Denizlispor to see its hopes of avoiding relegation diminishing, Hatayspor continued its dream season with a convincing 3-0 win against Erzurumspor, Konyaspor won 3-2 against Malatyaspor, Kasımpaşa beat Karagümrük 3-2 in the clash of two Istanbul neighborhood teams, Sivasspor grabbed a 2-0 home victory against Kayserispor and Gaziantepspor and Antalyaspor shared the spoils in a goalless draw.