Fenerbahçe beats Kasımpaşa in politically charged game

ISTANBUL

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Fenerbahçe beat Kasımpaşa 2-1 to break its two-game losing streak in a politically charged Spor Toto Super League match on Feb. 16.

The Yellow Canaries needed second half goals from Emre Belözoğlu and Bekir İrtegün, while Kasımpaşa’s goal came from its Syrian forward Senharib Malki.

With the win, Fenerbahçe found some breathing space, while its rivals Galatasaray and Beşiktaş have started winning streaks. Fenerbahçe has 47 points, while Beşiktaş trails with 42 points. Galatasaray, with a game in hand before yesterday evening’s Antalyaspor game, has 40 points.

Fenerbahçe’s win came at the end of a day when tens of thousands of its fans had gathered on Istanbul’s Anatolian side to protest a match-fixing case, putting the club’s 2010-2011 championship under scrutiny.

Last month, the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals ruled some of the club’s officials, including chairman Aziz Yıldırım, had been involved in attempts to manipulate the games of that campaign, when Fenerbahçe won the title ahead of Trabzonspor, only on superior goal difference.

Also present at the stadium were the family of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, a 19-year-old who was killed during last year’s anti-government Gezi Park protests. Chants in memory of Korkmaz, who was a Fenerbahçe fan, were sung during the game.