Istanbul football giants lose points in Turkish Süper Lig

ISTANBUL

Turkish football giants Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş lost points in the fourth week of Süper Toto Super Lig, while a surprise Istanbul club, Kasımpaşaspor, climbed to the top spot.

Beşiktaş returned from the difficult away game in Bursa with a draw.

The Black Eagles cheered when Ryan Babel scored in the 51st minute, but Bursaspor responded four minutes before the final whistle with Diafra Sakho's goal.

The match between Fenerbahçe and Kayserispor at Ülker Stadium in Istanbul on Sept. 1 saw the former defeated 2-3.

The host club Fenerbahçe was leading 1-0 after Andre Ayew scored the first goal in the 13th minute of the match. However, Kayserispor managed to equalize at 1-1 in the 52nd minute thanks to midfielder Bernard Mensah.

Islam Slimani scored the second goal for Fenerbahçe in the 57th minute. But Kayserispor brought the score to 2-2 when Fenerbahçe’s Martin Skrtel scored an own goal in the 61st minute.

The guest team got 3 points after Tjaronn Chery scored the third goal at the 69th minute. Kayserispor’s Samil Cinaz was brandished a red card by the referee in the 82nd minute.

In another competition, Trabzonspor hosted Galatasaray at Medical Park Stadium in northern Trabzon province and defeated the lions 4-0.  Trabzonspor’s first goal came in the 3rd minute by Ogenyi Onazi.

Anthony Nwakaeme scored the next two goals for the team in the 25th and 45 2 minutes.

The fourth goal came by Caleb Ekuban at the 90 2 minute.Galatasaray's Younes Belhanda received a red card in the 30th minute.  In the other matches of the fourth week, Atiker Konyaspor defeated Evkur Yeni Malatyaspor 1-0, Aytemiz Alanyaspor edged out Goztepe 1-0, while Akhisarspor drew Demir Grup Sivaspor 1-1.

A surprise Istanbul club is now sitting atop the league standings after four weeks as the league competition takes a one-week break due to international fixtures.

Kasımpaşa beat Ankaragücü 2-1 at home on Sept. 2 to make it four wins in as many games, climbing atop the standings after its city rivals falter.

Kasımpaşa staff is realistic despite the run, and the end of season target is to earn a place in the next year’s European competition.

“We have made a good start to the season and we consider each and every game as a final,” Nursal Bilgin, the club’s sportive director, has told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

“We have a young squad with many international players. We want to be in the European competition next season.”

Bilgin noted that the team will play an important game against defending champion Galatasaray after the international fixtures break.

“If we can get a draw or a victory at Galatasaray, we will be in a good spot for our season-end targets,” he added.

Bilgin specifically praised the team’s Senegalese striker Mbaye Diagne, who has scored six of Kasımpaşa’s 10 league goals so far.

“He was very good in the second half of last season, and since we thought that he would improve his performances, we signed a four-year contract extension with the player,” he said.

“One of his biggest targets was to be a part of the Senegalese national team, and he was called to the squad. We expect him to be the league’s top scorer with over 30 goals, if he does not suffer any injuries.”