Beşiktaş, Galatasaray continue race on top of league

ISTANBUL

The Turkish Super League’s defending champion Beşiktaş defeated Konyaspor 2-0 in the closing game of the week at home late on Sept. 18, equalizing matters with Galatasaray on top of the standing. 

“Tonight, everything worked out the way we planned, so I am satisfied with our performance. But, we must maintain our current form because the league is a marathon,” Beşiktaş manager Şenol Güneş said after the game.

Beşiktaş began the game in a dominant pace, taking the lead in the 10th minute in a header by Cenk Tosun, its rising star who scored the goal of the week at a Champions League group stage opener against Porto away on Sept. 13. 

The first half ended 1-0, but Beşiktaş showed signs of slowing down in the second half, handing the ball mostly to its Central Anatolian rival. 

However, Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma managed to get past two of his opponents in the 66th minute before sending a powerful shot from inside the box to improve the cushion to two. 

“I had a good chance to score and took advantage of it,” he said after the game. 

With the win, Beşiktaş increased its points to 13 in five games, chasing to follow the league leader Galatasaray with the same points.

Galatasaray defeated Istanbul’s Kasımpaşaspor 2-0 at home on Sept. 16, with striker Bafetimbi Gomis continuing his goal-scoring streak by finding the net twice in the victory.

On Sept. 17, Fenerbahçe, which has disappointed fans so far in both the domestic campaign and the European competition, managed to beat Alanyaspor at an away match, 4-1.

New recruit Vincent Janssen, who joined the team on loan from English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs, scored one for the Istanbul club.

Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe will clash on the latter’s pitch on Sept. 23 in the first derby of the season. 

Still on Sept. 18, last year’s runner-up Başakşehirspor and Black Sea giant Trabzonspor shared points with a 2-2 draw in Istanbul, with Burak Yılmaz scoring both of Trabzonspor’s goals.

Kayserispor beat Antalyaspor 2-0 in the opening game of the week, before the visitor’s manager Rıza Çalımbay parted his ways with the Mediterranean team.

Bursaspor beat Malatyaspor 4-2 away on Sept. 16 as Akhisarspor beat Karabük 2-1 at home. 

In the remaining Sept. 17 games, Osmanlıspor bowed 4-2 to Sivasspor, sinking to the bottom of the standings, with only 1 point so far, sharing the same destiny with Ankara’s Gençlerbirliği, who lost a 3-2 goal duel to Göztepespor.