Beşiktaş fails to take over top spot
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 05, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - An extraordinarily passionate performance by Fenerbahçe hands Beşiktaş a 2-1 defeat in the Turkcell Super League, preventing the Black Eagles from taking the top spot. Beşiktaş trails leader Sivasspor from a one-point distance again, with four weeks left in the campaign.
Beşiktaş blew a chance to take the Turkcell Super League top spot from Sivasspor, just as it has already twice this season.
The Black Eagles suffered a 2-1 home defeat to arch-rival Fenerbahçe on Sunday, only hours after Sivasspor lost to Gaziantepspor to expose the top spot. Beşiktaş failed to beat Sivasspor on March 21 in its first chance to take the league lead. Two weeks ago, Beşiktaş had another opportunity to take over the driving seat of the league, as Sivasspor was held to a goalless draw at Konyaspor. However, the Black Eagles’s game against Bursaspor ended in a stalemate as well.
Ironically, both Beşiktaş and Sivasspor suffered losses with the same scores on the same day, once again signaling that the title race would go to the wire.
Sivasspor has a one-point advantage over Beşiktaş with four weeks to go, while Trabzonspor is four points away from the top.
Spanish striker Daniel Güiza took the lead for Fenerbahçe in the 32nd minute, by lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber, in what was a copycat of his strike against Beşiktaş in the game on Nov. 29.
Semih Şentürk capped a wonderfully-constructed goals in the 54th minute, following Brazil-like passing traffic executed by midfielders Ali Bilgin, Uğur Boral and Deivid De Souza.
Beşiktaş’s Slovakian attacker Filip Holosko did his part to contribute to a tally of beautiful goals, but with a twist: he had no help at all, and was all alone when dribbling the ball past Fener defenders and firing a scorcher outside the box.
First defeat of the year
Beşiktaş, who is in stunning form of late, was beaten for the first time in 2009, after providing a 13-game unbeaten streak in league games. That form looked more impressive compared to Fenerbahçe’s poor run that saw only one win in six games. The Yellow Canaries looked in no condition to pose any problems to Beşiktaş, as they seemed to stop caring about the league and were already preparing for the Fortis Turkish Cup final on May 13.
A string of injuries and bans were added to Fenerbahçe’s woes, as key defenders Diego Lugano, Edu Dracena and star midfielder Alex De Souza were only three of the players to be missed. However, there is always a factor of unpredictability in derby games, and that was how the match at the İnönü Stadium was shaped.
While Fenerbahçe players seemed fired up for proving themselves, Beşiktaş team was almost ineffectual, and seemed completely uninterested in playing a game worthy of a final, if it was not overly tense after realizing what was at stake.
The coaches did their part for the game, too, of course. Fenerbahçe’s Luis Aragones took a major risk when he used Gökhan Gönül as a central defender, but it paid off when the right back played well in his position. The Spaniard’s choice to use Semih and Güiza up front together was not something he has done much, especially in away games, but the duo played very harmoniously and downed Beşiktaş with its lethal finishing abilities.
While Aragones’ creative moves were made out of desperation, Mustafa Denizli’s risks were unnecessarily suicidal. The Beşiktaş coach played with a irrationally weak midfield, subbing Edouard Cisse to leave Fabian Ernst as the only defensive player in that position. The French and German players were a major reason why Beşiktaş is performing so well, but Denizli put out more attackers than needed, and lost the possession most of the game. Eventually, more attackers did not mean to attack more, and Denizli’s gamble cost him valuable three points.
Aragones admitted that the difference in possession especially in the first half gave Fenerbahçe the advantage.
"We made all the right passes, and had the ball for most of the first half," said the Spaniard after the game. "We were more attacking-minded than Beşiktaş, played well, and won."
Denizli was positive after the game, despite the defeat.
"We lost today, but it is not over, and we are still one of the most serious contenders of the game," he said. "We would have almost finished the league with a win, but we could not. Any team can drop points at this stage of the league."
"We should we aware that the league is not over," Denizli added. "That loss is a trauma but we will get over it."
Fenerbahçe’s win revived Sivasspor’s hopes after the loss to Gaziantepspor.
"The final score in the Beşiktaş-Fenerbahçe game helped us get over that defeat," said Sivas manager Bülent Uygun. "I think three wins and one draw in the remaining games will be enough for us."
Uygun said that Trabzonspor should never be written off.
"Trabzonspor is in the race too," Uygun said. "If you count Trabzon out, it is obvious that you do not know anything about football."
The Black Eagles suffered a 2-1 home defeat to arch-rival Fenerbahçe on Sunday, only hours after Sivasspor lost to Gaziantepspor to expose the top spot. Beşiktaş failed to beat Sivasspor on March 21 in its first chance to take the league lead. Two weeks ago, Beşiktaş had another opportunity to take over the driving seat of the league, as Sivasspor was held to a goalless draw at Konyaspor. However, the Black Eagles’s game against Bursaspor ended in a stalemate as well.
Ironically, both Beşiktaş and Sivasspor suffered losses with the same scores on the same day, once again signaling that the title race would go to the wire.
Sivasspor has a one-point advantage over Beşiktaş with four weeks to go, while Trabzonspor is four points away from the top.
Spanish striker Daniel Güiza took the lead for Fenerbahçe in the 32nd minute, by lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber, in what was a copycat of his strike against Beşiktaş in the game on Nov. 29.
Semih Şentürk capped a wonderfully-constructed goals in the 54th minute, following Brazil-like passing traffic executed by midfielders Ali Bilgin, Uğur Boral and Deivid De Souza.
Beşiktaş’s Slovakian attacker Filip Holosko did his part to contribute to a tally of beautiful goals, but with a twist: he had no help at all, and was all alone when dribbling the ball past Fener defenders and firing a scorcher outside the box.
First defeat of the year
Beşiktaş, who is in stunning form of late, was beaten for the first time in 2009, after providing a 13-game unbeaten streak in league games. That form looked more impressive compared to Fenerbahçe’s poor run that saw only one win in six games. The Yellow Canaries looked in no condition to pose any problems to Beşiktaş, as they seemed to stop caring about the league and were already preparing for the Fortis Turkish Cup final on May 13.
A string of injuries and bans were added to Fenerbahçe’s woes, as key defenders Diego Lugano, Edu Dracena and star midfielder Alex De Souza were only three of the players to be missed. However, there is always a factor of unpredictability in derby games, and that was how the match at the İnönü Stadium was shaped.
While Fenerbahçe players seemed fired up for proving themselves, Beşiktaş team was almost ineffectual, and seemed completely uninterested in playing a game worthy of a final, if it was not overly tense after realizing what was at stake.
The coaches did their part for the game, too, of course. Fenerbahçe’s Luis Aragones took a major risk when he used Gökhan Gönül as a central defender, but it paid off when the right back played well in his position. The Spaniard’s choice to use Semih and Güiza up front together was not something he has done much, especially in away games, but the duo played very harmoniously and downed Beşiktaş with its lethal finishing abilities.
While Aragones’ creative moves were made out of desperation, Mustafa Denizli’s risks were unnecessarily suicidal. The Beşiktaş coach played with a irrationally weak midfield, subbing Edouard Cisse to leave Fabian Ernst as the only defensive player in that position. The French and German players were a major reason why Beşiktaş is performing so well, but Denizli put out more attackers than needed, and lost the possession most of the game. Eventually, more attackers did not mean to attack more, and Denizli’s gamble cost him valuable three points.
Aragones admitted that the difference in possession especially in the first half gave Fenerbahçe the advantage.
"We made all the right passes, and had the ball for most of the first half," said the Spaniard after the game. "We were more attacking-minded than Beşiktaş, played well, and won."
Denizli was positive after the game, despite the defeat.
"We lost today, but it is not over, and we are still one of the most serious contenders of the game," he said. "We would have almost finished the league with a win, but we could not. Any team can drop points at this stage of the league."
"We should we aware that the league is not over," Denizli added. "That loss is a trauma but we will get over it."
Fenerbahçe’s win revived Sivasspor’s hopes after the loss to Gaziantepspor.
"The final score in the Beşiktaş-Fenerbahçe game helped us get over that defeat," said Sivas manager Bülent Uygun. "I think three wins and one draw in the remaining games will be enough for us."
Uygun said that Trabzonspor should never be written off.
"Trabzonspor is in the race too," Uygun said. "If you count Trabzon out, it is obvious that you do not know anything about football."