Solid Antalya takes Trabzonspor test

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High-flying Medical Park Antalyaspor will test itself against Trabzonspor in the Spor Toto Super League tonight.

The Mediterranean side is in a stunning run of form, trailing defending champion Galatasaray by just three points with a game in hand.

Galatasaray continued its league lead with a 3-1 victory over Istanbul BB on Nov. 2, taking its points tally to 21. Antalyaspor, with 18 points, will try to maintain the pace with the Lions with a victory.

The team is on a league-high four-match winning streak, which has sent it from the bottom spots to the top of the league. After the fifth match day, Antalyaspor was in 12th spot in the 18-team league with six points, but following its tremendous run the team is now second and may have a shot of making it big this season.

The four-match streak was capped with an excellent 3-1 win at Fenerbahçe on Oct. 29, bringing the Istanbul giant’s 47-match unbeaten streak at home to an end. Tonight, another title hopeful is in Antalyaspor’s sight, but coach Mehmet Özdilek is confident.

‘No phobia’

“Our opponent is irrelevant. What matters is our own condition,” Özdilek told Doğan news agency. “This will be a match in which we can show what we are capable of.”

The coach added that he would not hold his team back against Trabzonspor. “We will do what we did against Fenerbahçe. We should press hard, we should play as a team, and we should play to win. And my players should be freed from the phobia of a big team. We will not lose if we execute that plan,” Özdilek said.

Trabzonspor has fallen eight points behind Galatasaray after notching up just one point in the last two weeks. The match will also be a bid to end the team’s 10-match streak without a win in away matches, a run dating back to last season.

The Black Sea Storm has also yet to win back-to-back matches this season, with only three wins in nine matches - the victories coming in the second, fourth and seventh match days.

Trabzon inconsistent

Trabzonspor is languishing in ninth with 13 points, and tonight coach Şenol Güneş’s boys will try to avoid falling further behind.

Apart from the Antalyaspor vs. Trabzonspor game, the only other match of the night will be between Bursaspor and Kasımpaşa.

Both matches start at 8 p.m.

Earlier in the weekend, Fenerbahçe rallied to beat Akhisar 2-1 on Nov. 3. Goals by Dirk Kuyt and Selçuk Şahin gave Fenerbahçe the victory and the fourth Yellow Canaries preserved a five-point distance with leader Galatasaray.

Eskişehirspor rose to fourth spot with a staggering 4-0 routing of Gaziantepspor also on Nov. 3.
Kayserispor got its first victory with coach Robert Prosinecki at the helm thanks to a 3-0 win over Kardemir Karabükspor.