Bursaspor deals Galatasaray’s first defeat in new year
ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency
Bursaspor players perform their usual ‘Crocodile’ celebration after the Galatasaray victory. Pablo Batalla scored the only goal of the game as Bursaspor defeated Galatasaray in a Spor Toto Super League game on Jan 28. DHA photo
Galatasaray’s long unbeaten streak came to an end Jan. 28, as it lost 1-0 away to Bursaspor in the Spor Toto Super League.Bursaspor was prolific in the few chances it created and was able to inflict Galatasaray‘s first defeat since Oct. 26, 2011, when it lost 4-2 to Gaziantepspor.
Despite the defeat, Galatasaray remained on top spot with 50 points, five points ahead of archrivals Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş.
Fenerbahçe was set to meet Mersin İdman Yurdu in yesterday’s late kick-off, while Beşiktaş will close match day 23 tonight against Kayserispor.
The Bursaspor-Galatasaray match was played in front of just women and children, as the home team had to serve a suspension handed down by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF). According to the TFF ruling, the teams, who were forced to play behind closed doors due to crowd trouble in a previous game, were still allowed to give away free tickets to women and children.
Another team ordered to play in front of only women and children was Ankaragücü, who faced Trabzonspor yesterday. Ankaragücü, which is not only coping with being the bottom club in the Super League table, but also with the departure of several players due to unpaid wages, did, however, feel the support of a political party.
Hundreds of female members of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) were organized by Aylin Nazlıaka, an Ankara deputy of the main opposition party, to support the team in its difficult game against Trabzonspor. Earlier this month, Nazlıaka announced she was donating a month’s salary to the club.
The game was still in progress as the Hürriyet Daily News went to press.
In other games yesterday, Istanbul BB crushed Samsunspor 4-2. Metin Depe, Taner Yalçın, Doka Madueira and Pierre Webo were on the score sheet for the visitors, who won for the third time in a row. Samsunspor’s goals came from Theofanis Gekas and Alvaro Dominguez.
Orduspor jumped out the relegation zone with a 1-0 away win at Eskişehirspor.
Another relegation-battler, Kardemir Karabükspor, beat Manisaspor 2-1 to find some hope.
Orduspor is 12th with 28 points, while Mersin İdman Yurdu has 27 points and Manisaspor has 26 points.
Gaziantepspor is 15th with 23 points, while Karabükspor has 21. Samsunspor has 17 points while Ankaragücü, slowly losing hope for survival, has 11 points.
