Beşiktaş wins to takeover league lead

ISTANBUL

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Beşiktaş beat Balıkesirspor 1-0 on Oct. 5, climbing to the top of the Spor Toto Super League standings and replacing minnow Akhisarspor, which suffered a shock 4-0 defeat at Istanbul Başakşehir.

Beşiktaş, which grabbed a tough 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League midweek, had a tough game against Balıkesirspor, but a goal in the 57th minute from Mustafa Pektemek was enough to grab the three points.

Speaking after the game, Beşiktaş coach Slaven Bilic said that the midweek game had its toll on the team.

“We had a tough game after a high-level match with Tottenham,” he told reporters. “We had a very valuable victory and now we should focus on our home games. We must keep our home losses at the minimum until our new stadium is completed.”

Beşiktaş is building a new home stadium, the Vodafane Arena, after their historic İnönü stadium was knocked down. The new stadium is expected to be completed by March 2015 and Beşiktaş is scheduled to play its home games at Atatürk Olympic stadium until then.

In Istanbul, Akhisar was defeated by Istanbul Başakşehir, which had four draws in the first four games of the season. Former Fenerbahçe striker Semih Şentürk shined for the home side and scored a hat-trick, while Alexandru Epureanu added another for a 4-0 victory.

Akhisarspor coach Mustafa Reşit Akçay said his side had “concentration problems” during the game.
“And Istanbul Başakşehir made us pay the price,” he said. “I thank them for that. We had an applied course here, I believe that we will learn from it and be a better team in the future.”

Mersin İdmanyurdu now sits in second in the league standings, thanks to a 2-1 victory against Bursaspor on Oct. 3. Servet Çetin and Sinan Kaloğlu scored the home side’s goals, while a goal by Serdar Aziz in the last minutes was too little too late for the visiting Bursaspor.

Galatasaray is in third in the Spor Toto standings, following a 2-1 win at Kayseri Erciyesspor. Burak Yılmaz put the visitors in the lead, scoring in the 52nd minute, and Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder gave the team another in the 68th. Caner Osmanpaşa scored a consolidation goal for the home side in the 81st.

Trabzonspor, which lost 1-0 at home to Legia Warsaw in the Europa League on Oct. 2, slipped into the relegation zone after a 3-0 crushing at Karabükspor on Oct. 5. The home team was in a two-goal lead as early as the 17th minute, with Abdou Razack Traore’s goal in the fifth and then Zeki Yavru’s own goal. Traore scored another goal in the final minutes of the game, sealing the win.

Trabzonspor coach Vahid Halilhodzic was furious after the game.

“I’m in shame, I have disappointed our supporters and our chairman,” he said. “It is easy to blame the coaches in such defeats, but tonight’s much once again proved that many players do not deserve to wear the Trabzonspor jersey.”

Halilhodzic, who joined the Black Sea side this summer and had four draws and one loss in five league games, recalled that he was named one of the best five coaches in the World after the 2014 World Cup.

“I cannot have forgotten coaching in two months,” he said. “We must carefully think where the problems lie. It would be a much easier option to leave the club. Trabzonspor deserves something much different, not this.”

Elsewhere, 10-man Fenerbahçe beat Torku Konyaspor 2-1 on Oct. 5 in Istanbul with goals from Pierre Webo and Moussa Sow. Konyaspor’s goal came from Dimitar Rangelov from the penalty spot.
Fenerbahçe defender Bekir İrtegun was sent off at the end of the first half.

Also in the Spor Toto Super League over the weekend, Kasımpaşa beat Gaziantepspor 4-2, Gençlerbirliği lost 1-0 at Sivasspor, and Eskişehirspor lost 2-1 at home to Çaykur Rizespor.