Turkish Super League - Matchday 31 Wrap-Up

[GS1905]

The sights of everybody interested in Turkish football were set on to the crucial derby on Sunday, but there were also some crunch games which all seemed to be having an effect on both ends of the table.

The first game of the week kicked off on Friday and Galatasaray beaa Malatyaspor away 2-1, thanks to goals from Umit Karan and Arif Erdem, the latter of which was a spot kick delivered perfectly.

Bursaspor thrashed Elazigspor 4-0 on Saturday and this loss for the Eastern club meant they were relegated in to Second Division Category A. Bursaspor, still 16th, are impressively carrying their hopes of staying up despite the fact that they are still occupying that last relegation spot. Gaziantepspor defeated Istanbulspor 1-0 to keep their UEFA hopes alive as Denizlispor lost at home to the stylish Genclerbirligi, 2-1. Goals from Mustafa Ozkan and Souleymane Youla gave the Ankara side an away win over the league's one of the most shining clubs.

In the Black Sea derby Sebatspor defeated Rizespor 1-0 with the help from veteran forward Orhan Kaynak, scoring the only goal of the game on seven minutes. This crucial victory kept Sebatspor over Bursaspor in the table and with three games to go, the Trabzon side are determined to give all to prevail.

Trabzonspor defeated Diyarbakirspor 2-0 in a very controversial game in which they lost their pacey striker Fatih Tekke to a knee injury. He's destined to miss out the remaining games after a horrendous tackle from centre-back Cumhur Bozaci. Mehmet Yilmaz was the hero as he scored two goals on 39 and 87 minutes. The crowd trouble after the second goal probably means that Trabzonspor will not be hosting Galatasaray in Avni Aker on matchday 33.

The big derby on Sunday resulted in a glowing performance from Serhat Akin, who scored two and assisted one against the injury-struck Besiktas. Fenerbahce took a three goal lead around the hour mark, thanks to goals from Serhat('36, 57) and Tuncay('59). Besiktas pulled one back in stoppages through Romanian striker Adrian Ilie.

Ankaragucu defeated Konyaspor 1-0 in a mid-table clash and already relegated Adanaspor lost 2-1 to Samsunspor in a very dire game.

After these results, the standings are as follows:

1. Fenerbahce 70 ;)

2. Trabzonspor 68 ;)

3. Besiktas JK 62 :)

4. Denizlispor 54

5. Gaziantepspor 51

6. Galatasaray 47

7. Ankaragucu 45

8. Samsunspor 43

9. Genclerbirligi 42

10. Malatyaspor 41

11. Konyaspor 40

12. Diyarbakirspor 40

13. Rizespor 39

14. Istanbulspor 34

15. Sebatspor 33

16. Bursaspor 31 :o

17. Elazigspor 22 :o

18. Adanaspor A.S. 13 :o

[Irlandos]

14. Istanbulspor 34

Istanbulspor started out so well...What happened? :huh:

[GS1905]

14. Istanbulspor 34

Istanbulspor started out so well...What happened? :huh:

Well, they've had their financial troubles and they haven't paid any of their players or coaching staff until the winter break. They signed a sponsorship deal with Turkcell in January, but things did not get any better. Their impressive coach Aykut Kocaman resigned in January and the players had a very very emotional press conference which nearly all of them waned for their then-current situation. After a month or so, playing games w/o a coach, Kocaman re-signed till the end of the season for free. They also sold their star players to other clubs... Tolga, formerly of BJK, signed for Ankaragucu. Petkov and Mehmet Yozgatli signed for Fenerbahce and Iordanov is on his way to Denizlispor, rumours say.

They are 14th now and i really hope that they won't get relegated. I want Bursaspor to go down, but there is a big belief that 'the black powers' will not let them drop. It will be probably between Istanbulspor and Sebatspor, who I both don't want to slip out.