The first featured match of the day had Fenerbahçe on the road against Gaziantepspor. Looking to continue their record start, Fenerbahçe would have to do it without key players Diego Lugano, Dani Guiza, and Alex de Souza, all out through injury or fatigue from World Cup qualifiers. It seemed as if it wouldn’t matter, at least in the first half. Semih Senturk scored off a header in the 25th minute to put Fenerbahçe up 1-0. The header would be set up from a left wind pass from Gokcek Vederson, and Senturk only flicked his head to put the ball in the back of the net. The first half would end with the 1-0 scoreline. In the second half, Gaziantepspor became more aggressive, and Fenerbahçe looked more content to sit back and grind out the result. Gaziantepspor would have attempts after attempts at goal, but without any results. Perhaps Fenerbahçe got too complacent near the end of the match. In the 84th minute, Julio Cesar de Souza fired a powerful shot past Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel to level the score for Gaziantepspor, 1-1. Fenerbahçe looked to hang on for at least the draw, but four minutes of stoppage time would be added, and that seemed like an eternity for the club. The complacency finally cost Fenerbahçe, as in the 90+4th minute, a foul late in the game set up a Gaziantepspor free kick, and Julio Cesar de Souza became the hero of the day, scoring at the death to give Gaziantepspor the upset 2-1. Fenerbahçe drops points for the first time this season, and now makes next week’s derby against Galatasaray interesting. Galatasaray would have to get the points first.
It wouldn’t come easy for Galatasaray, as they were playing Trabzonspor in the champions’ derby this week. Knowing that Fenerbahçe dropped points earlier in the day, Galatasaray would be looking to edge the gap in points going into the derby next week. The match started off furiously as Abdul Kader Keita made a pass to Harry Kewell, but missed the shot with only 37 seconds elapsed. Gokhan Zan attempted a header in the 6th minute, but the ball went off the post. Trabzonspor had an attempt in the 10th minute, when Umut Bulut made a crossing pass to the area, but no Trabzonspor players were in the area. The scoring would open up in 22nd minute, as Harry Kewell scored of a cross by Sabri Sarioglu to put Galatasaray up 1-0. Servet Cetin would double Galatasaray’s lead in the 37th minute, 2-0. Trabzonspor would pull one back in the 44th minute, as Tayfun Cora scored. Ceyhun Gulselam’s free kick went off the Galatasaray wall and Cora put the ball in the back of the net. The half would end with a 2-1 advantage to Galatasaray. The second half featured just as much furious action as the first. In the 54th minute, Gustavo Colman took advantage of a mistake by Galatasaray’s Ayhan Akman and tied the game for Trabzonspor 2-2. In the 59th minute, Trabzonspor’s Serkan Balci had a one-on-one situation with Galatasaray goalkeeper Leo Franco, but his shot went out of bounds. Arda Turan put Galatasaray back on top 3-2 in the 69th minute, 3-2. In the 71st minute, Baris Ozbek’s centering pass found Milan Baros and Galatasaray doubled their lead to 4-2. The scoring would end in the 86th minute, as Gustavo Colman scored to pull one back for Trabzonspor and make the game interesting, 4-3. Galatasaray’s win gives them momentum going into the derby next week. They close the gap in points as Galatasaray remain in second place with 22 points, trailing first place Fenerbahçe, who have 24 points.
Other results this week included Gençlerbirliği 2 – 0 Sivasspor, ruining Muhsin Ertugral’s debut as Sivasspor’s head coach; İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor 1-0 Manisaspor, Kayserispor 3 – 0 Ankaragücü, and Antalyaspor 4 – 1 Diyarbakırspor. Denizlispor coach Nurullah Sağlam has resigned after the Denizlispor loss yesterday.
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