Gençlerbirliği boss toothless Fenerbahçe, crushing title dreams

ANKARA

Dutchman Dirk Kyut (L) struggled to keep Fenerbahçe's stuttering title hopes alive. DHA photo

Fenerbahçe's title hopes hang by a thread after losing 2-0 away from home against Ankara's young upstarts Gençlerbirliği.

Aykut Demir put the home side ahead with an iron header from a corner just five minutes into the game, which seemed to knock the stuffing out of the championship chasing visitors.

Belgian Vleminckx Björn doubled the lead four minutes from the end of the first half, also with a header from inside the penalty area.

Fenerbahçe struggled gamely in the second half, but were unable to feed opposing goalkeeper Ramazan Köse's goal. 

The match leaves the Canaries struggling to fly, a discouraging seven points behind leaders Galatasaray in the Süper Lig, with just four games to go. The two go head to head in the penultimate week of the season, but it could be all over by then anyway if Galatasaray manage to win their next two games.

Fenerbahçe coach Aykut Kocaman conceded in a televised interview after the game that it would now be hard to win the title. "Still Fenerbahçe will struggle till the last minute," he said.  

The defeat also put an end to a run of five wins in a row for the Istanbul side. It was the team's first loss in 10 weeks.

As for Ankara's top dogs Gençlerbirliği, the club finds itself racing Bursaspor, Kasımpaşa and Kayserispor for a Europa League ticket.

Also on Sunday, Bursaspor won 1-0 away at Antalyaspor, thanks to a goal from Pablo Batallia.

Kayserispor, meanwhile, drew 1-1 with Sivasspor.

Bursaspor now follow third-placed Beşiktaş, which tasted the bitter pill of defeat against Akhisar on Saturday, losing 4-1. Beşiktaş and Bursaspor are both on 49 points, while Gençlerbirliği trail them on 43 points.