Spor Toto Super League standings

Monday, August 23, 2010

Spor Toto Super League – Week 2 Digest

Week 2 of the Spor Toto Super League featured two important matches that pitted previous champions against each other. With the excitement of the opening weekend gone, the second week featured matches that normally would happen later in the season. With the way that the schedule came out, week 2 would whet the appetite of the Turkish football fan.

Friday's action saw a newbie beat a dark horse, and an Anatolian team continue its good fortune early in the season. Konyaspor had their home opener against Eskişehirspor, and got off to a good start when Ivan Lietava scored in the 2nd minute. Eskişehirspor attacked more frequently after the goal but went into the half down 1-0. Pele would equalize for the visitors in the 51st minute. But Konyaspor took the lead for good in the 78th minute, when Adnan Gungor scored off a free kick from Ramazan Kahya.

Kayserispor had their home opener against Karabukspor. Kayserispor looked to give their home fans something to cheer about after they opened with a win against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. Kayserispor didn't disappoint. In the 26th minute, Selim Teber made a cross from the left wing, and the cross was headed home by Franco Cangele. Kayserispor nearly made it a two goal lead when in the 30th minute, Cangele made a cross to James Troisi from the right flank, but Troisi's header barely missed. Karabukspor tried to make a comeback through their star Emmanuel Emenike, who had several opportunities, but Kayserispor held on for the win 1-0.

Saturday's matches saw a draw and an upset. Antalyaspor and Sivasspor played to a 1-1 draw after goals by Tita of Antalyaspor and Sedat Bayrak of Sivasspor. As for the other match, Beşiktaş had their opener against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. With a strong victory the previous week, it seemed that the fans of Beşiktaş would be well on their way to win again. Somebody should have given Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor the message. The municipal club went on to defeat Beşiktaş by a score of 2-0 with goals from Iskender Alin and Ibrahim Akin. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor has received a reputation for upsetting the big 3 Istanbul clubs on occasion, and this was no exception.

Anatolian matches on Saturday resulted in the following: Gençlerbirliği and Gaziantepspor played to a 0-0 draw, and Ankaragücü thrashing Manisaspor in Manisa 3-0 with goals from Stanislav Sestak, Ozgur Cek, and Guven Varol.

Galatasaray had their home opener against defending champions Bursaspor. With some poor results in the last two competitive matches, Galatasaray looked to get back on track against Bursaspor. Bursaspor had other ideas. In the 15th minute, a Volkan Sen cross was punched away by Galatasaray goalkeeper Ufuk Ceylan, making a rare start. The cross ended up with Ivan Ergic, and Ergic scored to put Bursaspor up 1-0. A bit of controversy happened in the 45th minute. After Volkan Sen went down, Sen touched the ball with his right hand. Sen had previously received a yellow card in the 19th minute. Referee Abdullah Yilmaz did not make the call, leading to a flurry of protests from the Galatasaray players. Ayhan Akman and Milan Baros would both receive yellow cards resulting from this missed call. Bursaspor cemented their lead in the 83rd minute. Ivan Ergic shot the ball from outside the penalty area, the ball took a deflection, and there was nothing Ufuk Ceylan could do to save it. Bursaspor won the match 2-0 and won at Ali Sami Yen stadium for the first time in 18 years.

Monday's featured match was Trabzonspor playing their home opener against Fenerbahçe. While this was going on, Kasımpaşa and Bucaspor played to a 0-0 draw. But everyone had their eyes on the Huseyin Avni Aker stadium for this big match. Trabzonspor would strike first, sort of. A 14th minute Selcuk Inan free kick was attempted to be cleared by Fenerbahçe's Mehmet Topuz. The ball would end up at the back of Fenerbahçe's goal, giving Trabzonspor the 1-0 lead. Trabzonspor scored again two minutes later, when Ibrahima Yattara got through the Fenerbahçe defense and lobbed the ball over Mert Gunok to double Trabzonspor's lead. Gunok was starting in place of the injured Volkan Demirel. Fenerbahçe got one back in the 28th minute, when a Semih Senturk cross was headed home by Diego Lugano. Trabzonspor fired back immediately in the 29th minute, when Arkadiusz Glowacki headed in a Yattara free kick. It seemed that Trabzonspor would cruise to victory. Fenerbahçe got a second goal from Mehmet Topuz, after receiving a pass from Miroslav Stoch. Fenerbahçe attacked more often in the second half, while Trabzonspor seemed to lay back and attack on the counter. Trabzonspor held on for the 3-2 victory and gain momentum going into their 2nd leg UEFA Europa League playoff round match against Liverpool.

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