Contenders slump but the title battle rages on

It was supposed to be one of the do-or-die weekends in the Turkcell Super League, but with four of the five title contenders dropping points, the only outcome is that no one team is out of the race.

The weekend’s top game, Sunday’s Beşiktaş-Trabzonspor clash, could have signaled the end of the home team, but Bobo’s 77th minute goal canceled Gökhan Ünal’s first-half strike, saving the Black Eagles. Unlike its previous displays in big games, Trabzonspor played with a defensive mentality, trying to contain Beşiktaş’s attacks for most of the game. Ünal scored his ninth of the season in what may have been the only decent chance for the Black Sea side, but it was the home team who dictated the play.

In its previous visit to Istanbul when it played Fenerbahçe three weeks ago, Trabzonspor felt unlucky not to win, with the game ending in a 0-0 draw. This time, it was Beşiktaş who looked like losing two points and Trabzonspor will be happy with getting one.

"It was a shame," said the disappointed Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli after the game, saying his side deserved the win.

"Sometimes there are games you win by playing bad," he added, "and there are those games when you play well and cannot get the win. Trabzonspor came once and scored, while we played our best from the start until finish."

Despite the disappointment, the performance has made Denizli optimistic about the rest of the league.

"Tonight we saw that Beşiktaş is playing at the highest tempo of the league and putting on the fiercest battles every time," said Denizli. "As long as my team can keep up to that level, we will not have question marks on our side." Trabzonspor boss Ersun Yanal was understandably happy after the game, keeping the distance with its rival.

"If we had won, we would be nine points ahead, but we managed to keep the six-point gap," said Yanal. "They had this big aim to win, and we managed to break their target even if was for just two points."

Although he hailed the result, Yanal admitted that his team failed to play well. "I feel Trabzonspor was not successful in terms of dictating the play," Yanal said. "We could not hold the ball in front, and could not capitalize on the holes in their defensive line. But it is good to take one point out of this difficult away game."

Bursa holds Sivas
Trabzonspor can take consolation in the fact that it did not fall further from the top, as league leader Sivasspor dropped two points against Bursaspor also on Sunday.

Brazilian player Tadeu took Bursaspor in front in the 50th minute, but defender İbrahim Öztürk scored an own goal seven minutes after to level the game at one a piece.

Sivasspor coach Bülent Uygun admitted that luck was on their side.

"It was important to get one point here, even with the help of luck," Uygun said. "We should concentrate on our next game now, and continue our battle."

Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam was bitter, ruing a "ridiculous goal."

"We wanted to win the game and come closer to the top spots and now we are sad to drop two points with a ridiculous goal and without giving a decent chance to them," Sağlam said. "But at the end of the day, getting one point from the league leader is a consolation."

Sivasspor and Trabzonspor are both on 42 points, only separated by goal difference.

With most of the top teams dropping points, Fenerbahçe was the real winner over the weekend. Demolishing Hacettepe 7-0, the Yellow Canaries both closed in on the top three and enjoyed a great boost of morale.

Alex was the star of Saturday night’s game with a hat trick, while Semih Şentürk, who had one of his rare performances as a starter, thanks mainly to injury to Daniel Güiza, scored a double.

Galatasaray continued its poor form and was beaten 1-0 by Antalyaspor. The Lions, who had only one win in their last four games, are still on third spot but are level on points and goal difference with Fenerbahçe on 37 points now. Galatasaray’s main priority is likely to be the UEFA Cup this week, as it takes on French Bordeaux tomorrow night.

Flu knocks league one side down

Sunday’s Bank Asya League One fixture between Kayseri Erciyesspor and Adanaspor was postponed, as an overwhelming number of players of the home team were suffering from flu.

Erciyesspor applied to the Turkish Football Federation, or TFF, with medical reports granted by the Erciyes University Hospital, declaring that 22 of its players were suffering from flu. The TFF accepted Erciyesspor’s request.

However, unlike Turkish football’s governing body, Erciyesspor fans are not convinced about the influenza claims. In a statement released by its Web site, one Erciyesspor fan group said the players were in fact not sick and the main reason was that the footballers did not want to play as they were not being paid. "You can’t fool us," was the statement.