Fenerbahçe stunned at home by Akhisar

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

Istanbul club Fenerbahçe was beaten by underdog Akhisar Belediye 2-1 in a Spor Toto Super League match at its home at Şükrü Saraçoğlu stadium on Feb. 23, missing the chance to go to the top standings.

Visitor Akhisar Belediyespor scored the opening goal in the fifth minute when Turkish left-winger Güray Vural put the ball into the net by making a classy lob outside the area on a breakaway.

Fenerbahçe equalized when their Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles hit the target near the end of the first half when he smashed the ball just outside the penalty box.

For the most part, Fenerbahçe dominated the game; however, Akhisar Belediyespor scored the winning goal in the 89th minute through Portuguese right-winger Ricardo Vaz Te.

Receiving a deadly through ball from his teammate Lomana LuaLua, Vaz Te skipped past Fenerbahçe’s goalkeeper Mert Günok in the box to hand the home side a 2-1 loss.

With the loss, Fenerbahçe missed the chance to leapfrog Beşiktaş into the top spot in the Spor Toto Super League standings, and remained at 46 points in the third spot, two points behind new leader Galatasaray and one point behind city rival Beşiktaş.

The result also meant that Fenerbahçe’s streak of 33 unbeaten league matches at home ended. The club had not lost a home game since a 2-1 loss against Sivasspor on Feb. 3, 2013.

Fenerbahçe coach İsmail Kartal was said to have missed the chance to lead the league.

“The game was totally under our control, but we missed too many chances to score,” he said after the match. “My players lost their discipline in the last 15 minutes and we lost. We apologize to our fans,” he added.