Trabzonspor falters, loses top spot in Turkish Süper Lig

ANTALYA

Trabzonspor conceded a goal in the dying minutes of a Turkish Süper Lig Week 28 clash at Alanyaspor, dropping two critical points and losing the top spot in the standings to Başakşehir.

The 2-2 draw in Alanya on June 22 left the Black Sea side in 57 points, two points behind Başakşehir, which won 2-1 at Ankaragücü in the first game of the week on June 19.

Defending champion Galatasaray fell further behind in the title race after being held to a 3-3 draw at home by Gaziantep on June 21.

With six games to go until the end of the season, Trabzonspor coach Hüseyin Çimsir is still hopeful of his side’s chances of claiming the trophy.

“We lost our advantage tonight, but we will be in this race until the very final whistle,” he said after the game. “We will not collapse after a draw, we will stand together, stand up again and pursue the race until the finish line.”

In Alanya, Trabzonspor took an early lead with a goal by its home-grown 20-year-old talent Abdülkadir Ömür in the seventh minute, before Papiss Cisse leveled the score in the 45th minute.

Filip Novak put the visiting side ahead again in the 51st minute, but Anastasios Bakasetas’ goal in the stoppage time crashed Trabzonspor’s hopes of a victory.

Both teams ended the match with 10 men as Trabzonspor’s Seyed Majid Hosseini and Alanyaspor’s Fabrice N’Sakala received red cards in the second half.

In Istanbul on June 21, Galatasaray was held to a draw with a stoppage-time penalty.

Things looked smooth for the home side when Sofiane Feghouli made it 3-1 in the 66th minute, but Gaziantep pulled one back with Ghanaian forward Patrick Twumasi 12 minutes later, and Alexandru Maxim successfully converted a penalty shot in dying minutes to salvage one point for the visitors.

Coach Fatih Terim, whose side is now eight points behind the league leader, was furious with the referee after the game, especially with his very late penalty decision.

“I see that wanting, waiting and working hard are not enough,” he told reporters in a post-game press conference.

“We have gone through a lot in the last two weeks to end in this mindset. Clearly, we need a method to find the virus that is not in the bodies but is in the minds and intentions.”

Galatasaray visits Başakşehir this weekend and a loss could practically end its trophy campaign.

In other games over the weekend, Antalyaspor defeated Rizespor 3-1, bottom club Kayserispor grabbed three crucial points with a 2-0 win against Gençlerbirliği, Beşiktaş won 5-1 at Denizlispor, Malatyaspor beat Göztepe 2-1 at home, Kasımpaşa claimed its fourth consecutive victory defeating Fenerbahçe 2-1 and Konyaspor and Sivasspor shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw.