Galatasaray edges out Fenerbahçe in tense derby

ISTANBUL

Galatasaray's Wesley Sneijder celebrates after scoring a goal against Fenerbahçe during their Turkish Super League derby in Istanbul, April 6. REUTERS Photo

Galatasaray beat Fenerbahçe 1-0 in a tense Spor Toto Super League derby on April 6.

A ninth minute goal from Dutch superstar Wesley Sneijder won the game for Galatasaray, which cut the gap behind leader Fenerbahçe to seven points.

Fenerbahçe remained with 60 points, while Galatasaray, in second place, improved to 53.

The Yellow Canaries are still on course to win the title, however, since they are likely to be awarded three points for their Trabzonspor game, which was interrupted due to trouble with the crowd, with Fener leading 1-0.

On April 6, the tensions were on the pitch, with referee Bülent Yıldırım cautioning almost half of the players and sending off two.

Fenerbahçe’s temperamental midfielder Emre Belözoğlu was sent off five minutes before the first half whistle.

Belözoğlu collected two yellow cards in the space of five minutes for his respective fouls on Selçuk İnan and Felipe Melo.

After Belözoğlu’s red card, Melo was seen taunting the Turkish player by sticking his tongue out.
Melo was not booked or warned for that incident, but was sent off later in the game, after a second yellow card in the 86th minute.

Some 12 other players were shown the yellow card, eight of them from visitors Fenerbahçe.

Elsewhere, Bursaspor beat Sivasspor 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller earlier on April 6.

Struggling Kayseri Erciyesspor jumped out of the relegation zone with a crucial 3-0 win over Sanica Boru Elazığspor. Erciyesspor is right ahead of the red zone with 29 points, while Elazığspor is 17th with 28 points, with six matches left to play.

Kayserispor is sitting on the bottom with 25 points, after losing to third Beşiktaş 2-1 in a hard-fought game on April 5. Beşiktaş is third with 53 points.