Galatasaray ends year on top for first time in decade

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Galatasaray midfielder Selçuk İnan managed to break the deadlock in the second half ot his team’s Manisaspor match. AA photo

A free-kick goal by Selçuk İnan gave Galatasaray an important victory over Manisaspor, and the “winter champions” title in the Spor Toto Super League.

Galatasaray beat Manisaspor 1-0 on Dec. 21 to extend its winning streak to six games and maintain its lead in the league.

Earlier, defending champion Fenerbahçe was held to a goalless draw at Medical Park Antalyaspor.
The Lions are on 37 points, two ahead of archrival Fenerbahçe, to end the year on top spot. This is the first time in a decade that Galatasaray ended the first part of the season on top.

“I congratulate my team,” coach Fatih Terim said after the game. “They spent a good first part of the season, and played very well for most of the season. But hopefully, we will get even better, correcting our mistakes.”

Shorter break
The congested league fixture, which was caused by a delayed start to the season due to the match-fixing investigation, will require a shorter mid-season break. The teams will return to action after two weeks, instead of the usual one-month break.

Terim said that he will keep working during the break.

“I will not be on holiday – I will be here,” Terim said. “We don’t have a long time before the second part of the season. My players will be relaxing, but I will be at Florya [facilities] during that period.
“We will try to complete our additions to the squad by Jan. 1.”

In other games on Dec. 21, Mersin İdman Yurdu and Eskişehirspor were drawn in a goalless stalemate. Kayserispor thrashed Ankaragücü 3-0 and Sivasspor beat Samsunspor 3-2.

The first part of the Super League ended with four matches yesterday. The games were still in progress as the Hürriyet Daily News went to press.