TURKEY: Süper Lig Review – Week 4

WEEK 4 – 13th – 15th September 2013

Galatasaray 1–1 Antalyaspor

After a two-week international break Galatasaray hosted the first match of the fourth week of the Süper Lig. The national champions hit the frame of the goal on multiple occasions. Considering that the match was played on Friday the thirteenth, one can only imagine that Galatasaray fans may pick up that superstition the next time that date comes around.

A Turkish league veteran, Tita, opened the scoring in the twentieth minute and silenced the packed stadium. The Brazilian received a pass from Isaac Promise and hit the ball on his first touch straight into the back of the net. The ball flew above Galatasaray keeper Fernando Muslera’s body and narrowly made it under the crossbar. Unabated by the home side’s defense, Tita made the strike look routine but it was a remarkable shot.

As the home fans looked on anxiously, Didier Drogba scored what can only be described as the complete inverse of Tita’s goal. The Ivoirian received a cross that passed over the whole defense and tapped the ball in from around two metres out.

Erciyesspor 1–0 Akhisar

The match looked sloppy from kick-off with both teams’ forwards looking to shoot from half chances with their defenders content to let them do so.

The first half came and went with no goals for either side. Twelve minutes after the restart, however, Üstün Bilgi got his head to a ball rebounded off the keeper’s left side upright and put Erciyes ahead.

The match ended that way but not before the home side scuttled chances as Yasin Öztekin and Bruno Mezenga both missed on a few occasions. Oğuz Dağlaroğlu, the Akhisar goalkeeper, should be mentioned as he put up a good performance and can share little blame for the events leading up to the goal.

Gaziantepspor 2–5 Rizespor

Gaziantep continued their spiral downward after finding themselves on the wrong side of a seven goal contest at home to Rize.

Iraqi sensation Adnan Ali opened the flood gates twelve minutes with a brilliant free kick. Reminiscent of Roberto Carlos’ famous logic-defeating free kick in a friendly against France in 1997, the ball seemed to have confused Gaziantep keeper Žydrūnas Karčemarskas Cristiano Ronaldo-style with an unforeseen wobble near its apex.

Rize were awarded a penalty just seven minutes later as Bulgarian Turk Şenol Can tried to get away if bear hug defending. The referee was having none of it and pointed to the spot. Sercan Kaya stepped up and put the ball into the back of the net. Although Karčemarskas got both hands to the ball he was not able to save it.

Turgut Doğan Şahin got a goal back for the hosts after a top shelf shot from inside the box. Minutes later he took to the showers early, however, when he pushed Adnan Ali as the latter was shielding him from the ball. That was his second yellow and Turgut saw red just fifteen minutes after scoring.

A Gaziantep free kick saw two Rize players and a Gaziantep player collapse as the ball came in and the referee once again pointed to the penalty spot. Cenk Tosun stepped up to take it and picked the same side Sercan Kaya had forty minutes earlier. The keeper dove the other way and suddenly Gaziantep were back in the match.

Sercan and David Depetris scored in the span of two minutes in the seventy-ninth and eighty-first minutes to put the match beyond the grasp of the home side.

Gilles Binya capped a disappointing night with a shot into his own net. If it could ever be said, whatever could go wrong for Gaziantep did go wrong in this match.

Trabzonspor 1–0 Karabükspor

Playing with at a relatively inhibited pace, both teams got chances and both teams’ keepers made the necessary saves.

Early on, Trabzon number ten Adrian Mierzejewski, who seems more Brazilian than Polish with just Adrian written on the back of his shirt, curved a free kick over the wall but missed the target.

The first half came to an end as it started with no goals scored.

In the sixty-first minute, Yusuf Erdoğan took a creative shot but could only watch it deflect off the woodwork. Florent Malouda found Yusuf and the latter took a few steps and then lobbed the ball at goal. The slow=moving ball hit the meeting point of the cross bar and the upright and deflected back into play. Karabük goalkeeper Boy Waterman collected the ball and ended the play.

Fifteen minutes from the end of the match, Brazilian forward Henrique got to the end of a Gustavo Coleman pass and, staying onside, steered clear of two defenders and scored the decisive goal of the match.

After closing out the last minutes with both keepers performing tense, last-ditch saves Trabzon finished the match victorious and enjoyed music in the local Black Sea style as they celebrated with the fans.

Bursaspor 0–3 Beşiktaş

Beşiktaş continued their one hundred percent record in the league with a comprehensive win in Bursa on Sunday. Among Istanbul teams Beşiktaş definitely has the biggest rivalry with Bursa.

Christoph Daum, who managed Beşiktaş in the ‘90s, managed his first game against the Istanbul-based side in over three years since he was manager at Fenerbahçe.

Hugo Almeida scored fourteen minutes in and gave the away side some breathing space. It was another goal which highlighted the defensive fault lines of Bursa this season.

Pablo Batalla scored with a diving header minutes later but he was called offside and replays support this call.

Defender Tomas Sivok scored Beşiktaş’s second just minutes before half time when he received a corner kick with his head and hit the ball towards the ground. Even with two players and the goalkeeper on the goal line, the ball flew above keeper Sebastien Frey.

In the sixth-fourth minute Beşiktaş scored their third, once again from a dead ball situation. A free kick from deep in midfield was found by Sivok who hit the ball with his head, again towards the ground, to an approaching Julien Escude. The Frenchman kicked the ball at goal and scored the last goal of the match.

Gençlerbirliği 1–1 Kayserispor

An uneventful first half gave way to a goal early in the second as Diego Biseswar curled the ball in from outside the keeper’s box. Almost unopposed, the Dutch winger had time to think it through and gave Gençlerbirliği Ramazan Köse no chance.

Both sides came alive with Gençlerbirliği’s Jimmy Durmaz and Kayseri’s Sefa Yılmaz both creating chances.

Nemanja Tomić scored at the death to recover a point for Gençlerbirliği. He was unmarked in the box and received a pass from Serkan Yanık. The Serbian kicked the ball past the keeper and sent the home fans into loud cheers.

Sivasspor 3–2 Eskişehirspor

Sivas recovered from a disappointing loss in Istanbul with a victory over Eskişehir.

Seven minutes in Diomansy Kamara stepped in front of Sivas keeper and headed a cross. The Senegalese did well to leave his marker as well as surprise the keeper.

John Utaka scored for the home side just two minutes later. The Nigerian met the ball with his head from a cross from Cicinho.

With two goals in the first ten minutes, both sides played out the rest of the first half with more defensive tactics. Then, a few minutes after the break, Manuel da Costa scored what can only be described as goal of the year with a stunning strike from midfield. The Portuguese centre back received a pass from his left and hit the ball to the keeper’s top left-hand corner. Eskişehir players were busy defending from just moments before and da Costa had a lot of space to get the shot away.

Ten minutes later EsEs tied up the game with a header from Veysel Sarı. He was thought to have fouled Sivas keeper Milan Borjan but eventually the referee gave the goal and ruled that the Canadian had not been fouled.

Erkan Zengin was shown a straight red in the sixty-sixth minute when he lashed his arm out at a Sivas player and hit him in the nose. The Swedish international was running with a limp as he was shown the red card but Cicinho did not physically cause the damage. Upon replay it is clear that Erkan hit Cicinho in the neck but the Brazilian clutched his nose in order to secure the foul.

Erkan’s dismissal had an immediate effect on the game as Aatif Chahechouhe scored from inside the box just seven minutes later.

Elazığspor 2–0 Konyaspor

Two goals in the first half secured the three points for the eastern Turkish side.

Ahmet Görkem Görk scored from a header just ten minutes in while Deniz Naki scored from inside the box twenty-five minutes later.

Konya started the season strong with a win against Fenerbahçe but, as most promoted sides eventually do, have started to falter and will need to recover points in the crucial weeks ahead.

Kasımpaşa 2–3 Fenerbahçe

The Kasımpaşa fixture is one Fenerbahçe fans were not looking forward too very much. Around this time last year a loss away precipitated fan favourite Alex de Souza off of the team. The Brazilian walked to the stands after being substituted instead of sitting in the dug-out with his team and that is said to have been the last straw for then manager Aykut Kocaman. The fans stood by Alex but after taking his frustrations to popular message site Twitter, Alex had his contract terminated. That was just days after a supporter-funded statue was revealed outside of the stadium in Istanbul.

Nevertheless, Fenerbahçe came into the ‘derby’ in good form, enjoying five goals against Sivas before the international break.

Both sides came out attacking but Ryan Donk scored first. With Oscar Scarione obstructing his view, Fener keeper Volkan Demirel did not see Donk’s shot. Volkan swerved to make the save but looked apprehensive; perhaps under the impression that the ball was headed out.

Fener’s Caner Erkin scored from a free kick twelve minutes later. Bruno Alves approached the ball to take a shot even before the referee had blown his whistle but he continued his run and let Caner deliver the kick. The former CSKA Moscow winger chose to shoot from twenty-two metres out and the well-hit ball found its home in the top-left hand corner of the goal from the keeper’s perspective.

Oscar Scarione put the hosts back up by a goal when, in the fortieth minute, the Argentinian received an aerial pass from Ryan Babel. Volkan once again had his positioning to blame as he failed to deal with the shot. Fener players were waiting for a call on Babel for using his arm but the Dutchman almost certainly controlled the ball with his shoulder.

In the seventy-fourth minute Caner used his dominant left foot to assist Pierre Webo’s first goal of the season. The Cameroonian found himself unopposed in enemy territory and turned Caner’s cross into the net. Fener’s number nine hit the ball towards the ground and gave keeper Isaksson no chance.

Webo scored his second to win the game in stoppage time with a less skillful but still acceptable goal. A mix-up of limbs by two Kasımpaşa defenders sent the ball over the rest of the defense and to an offside Pierre Webo. The thrity-two year old kicked the ball into the net and ran off to celebrate. In his short time at Fenerbahçe he’s scored two quick doubles; one against Galatasaray and now this one against Kasımpaşa.