Fenerbahçe moves atop Turkish league standings

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

A double by Portuguese winger Luis Nani, including a last second free kick goal, earned home side Fenerbahçe a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Antalyaspor on Aug. 30, moving the Istanbul club to the top of the Spor Toto Super League standings.

Nani put his side ahead in the 43rd minute against Antalyaspor, which made a name by signing Cameroonian star Samuel Eto’o in the off season. The visiting side’s Brazilian striker Guilherme leveled the score in the 70th minute, but Nani took the stage once again in the dying minutes and scored a brilliant free kick goal to give his side three points.

The referee of the game, Bülent Yıldırım, was on target after the game since the winning goal came in the seventh minute of the stoppage time.

With seven points from three games, Fenerbahçe is now atop the Spor Toto Super League standings on goal difference over Trabzonspor, which was held to a 2-2 draw at home on Aug. 30 by Akhisar Belediye. 

A draw would not have been a fair result, according to Fenerbahçe coach Vitor Pereira.

“Tomorrow, everybody will be talking about Nani’s last minute free kick goal, but we were dominant tonight for the entire game,” the Portuguese coach said at a post-game press conference.

Beşiktaş, which demolished Gaziantepspor 4-0 in an away match on Aug. 28, sits in third spot, with six points.

All goals in the game at Gaziantep came in the last 14 minutes, with Oğuzhan Özyakup scoring the first goal in the 76th minute. Striker Cenk Tosun successfully converted a penalty six minutes later, while midfielder Olcay Şahan and winger Kerim Frei added one each in the final minutes of the match.

Beşiktaş striker Cenk Tosun leads the top league scorers list with four goals.

Defending league champion Galatasaray cruised past Torku Konyaspor 4-1 in an away match, despite playing with 10 men for the final 24 minutes, clinching its first league victory of the season.

Striker Burak Yılmaz, who has recently been under fire for his below par performances, put the visiting side in lead as early as the ninth minute, while Konyaspor’s Alban Melha equalized in the 37th. Three minutes later, defender Semih Kaya scored Galatasaray’s second goal, and the Istanbul club’s Dutch midfielder, Wesley Sneijder, scored a double in the final minutes of the match.      

Galatasaray’s left-back Lionel Carole was shown his second yellow card and sent off for a dangerous tackle in the 66th minute. Galatasaray now has four points and is in 10th.  

In this week’s other games, Bursaspor and Mersin İdmanyurdu again failed to get their first points of the season, both teams losing 2-1 to Başakşehir and Kayserispor, respectively. 

Eskişehirspor vs. Çaykur Rizespor and Sivasspor vs. Osmanlıspor games ended in 1-1 draws, while Gençlerbirliği managed to grab its first win of the season 1-0 at home against Kasımpaşa.