Galatasaray wins to climb up in league standings

ISTANBUL

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Defending Turkish Süper Lig champion Galatasaray has moved a step closer to the top spot in the standings with a 3-0 win over city neighbor Kasımpaşa in a Week 21 game.

Adem Büyük scored a double for the visiting side in the 22nd and 41st minutes in the game on Feb. 9.

Having won its fifth league game in a row, Galatasaray climbed up to the fifth spot with 39 points.

Leader Sivasspor fumbled at home against Başakşehir on Feb. 9, being held to a 1-1 draw.

Demba Ba scored Başakşehir’s goal in the 66th minute while Mustapha Yatabare’s goal in the 80th minute brought one point for Sivas to extend its stay atop the standings with 42 points.

Trabzonspor, which has a game in hand, beat Gençlerbirliği 2-0 in an away game on Feb. 8 to continue its pursuit of the leader one point behind, while Başakşehir dropped down to the third spot with 40 points.

Fenerbahçe suffered a major blow in the title race after drawing Alanyaspor 1-1 at home on Feb. 8.

Two goals after three penalty shots set the result in Istanbul, with Papiss Cisse of Alanyaspor and Fenerbahçe’s Max Kruse scoring the goals.

Alanyaspor sits in the fourth spot after the draw with 39 points, while Fenerbahçe dropped down to sixth, one point behind archrival Galatasaray.

Beşiktaş grabbed its second victory in as many games under its new coach Sergen Yalçın, beating Gaziantep 3-2.

Turkish international Burak Yılmaz scored the opening goal from penalty shot in the 52nd minute at home in Istanbul.

New signing Kevin-Prince Boateng scored in his debut in the 70th minute, while Jeremain Lens netted the third goal in the dying minutes of the game.

With the victory, Beşiktaş increased its points tally to 36 and sits in the seventh spot in the league standings.

Elsewhere in Week 21 games, struggling Ankaragücü grabbed a 1-0 win at Malatyaspor in a crucial game in the fight against relegation, Denizlispor and Konyaspor shared the spoils in goalless draw and Kayserispor’s winless streak in the league extended to seven games with a 2-2 draw at home against Antalyaspor.

The Göztepe-Rizespor game scheduled for late Feb. 10 was postponed by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) after the visiting side failed to fly to the western province of İzmir due to heavy snow in the Black Sea region.

The top seven teams will face each other in the next two weeks, intensifying the race for the Turkish Süper Lig trophy.

Başakşehir hosts Beşiktaş on Feb. 14, while Sivasspor visits Trabzonspor two days later in Week 22.

In Week 23, Fenerbahçe takes on Galatasaray at home in an Istanbul derby on Feb. 23, while Beşiktaş hosts Trabzonspor on Feb. 22 and Alanyaspor travels to Sivasspor on Feb. 21.