Draws give Beşiktaş, Sivas breathing space
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 17, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Fenerbahçe, Trabzonspor and Galatasaray end the weekend with draws, giving Sivas and Beşiktaş some margin for error at the Turkish league's top two spots. The race is about to get more heated when the two teams meet this weekend
As three top teams drop points yet again, Sivasspor and Beşiktaş sit comfortably in the top two spots of the Turkcell Super League.
Fenerbahçe conceded a late goal to drop two points with a surprise 1-1 draw against lowly Kocaelispor on Friday, while Trabzonspor and Galatasaray shared one point each in the weekend’s big game, which ended 2-2. So, it was a fine weekend for Sivasspor and Beşiktaş, who both won their games Saturday.
Leader Sivasspor managed to overcome Ankaragücü with two goals in the second half and ended its three-week losing streak.
Mehmet Yıldız and Yannick Kamanan scored the goals for Sivasspor, which played without its coach Bülent Uygun because he was suspended. Uygun was suspended because of his appeals to the referee after the Ankaraspor game the previous week and had to watch the game from the stands. The coach enjoyed his players’ support, however, as Yıldız pointed at him after scoring his goal.
It was assistant coach Esat Karaberberoğlu who managed his team during the game and answered questions in the post-match conference.
Sivasspor highly motivated
"My players were highly motivated about the game, especially after Fenerbahçe dropped points," he said. "Ankaragücü played well, but we won three points thanks to our experience."
According to Ankaragücü coach Hakan Kutlu, Sivasspor was lucky.
"My players did well throughout the 90 minutes of play, but we go home empty-handed after individual mistakes," he said. "The luck was on Sivasspor’s side today."
Sivasspor tops the league, but Beşiktaş trails by only one point. The Black Eagles were the other happy side of the weekend, as they beat Gençlerbirliği 3-0 on Saturday.
Just like Sivasspor, Beşiktaş needed a second half push for the win, scoring all three goals in the last half-hour of the game.
German midfielder Fabian Ernst scored his first goal for Beşiktaş in the 64th minute, as it was for Ekrem Dağ when he scored in the 87th. Filip Holosko closed the account with a header in the dying seconds of the game.
Coach Mustafa Denizli said that in a league that stages too many surprising results, Beşiktaş tries hard to avoid upsets.
"An interesting season is going on," said Denizli. "We battle to avoid surprising losses. The league is difficult, but every one of my players is up for it." Speaking to the reporters before yesterday’s training session, Denizli added that the balances are changing every week.
’Everything is changing every week’
"Everything is changing every week in such a league," Denizli explained. "Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe dropped points. Trabzonspor has not won [at home] in three weeks. There is no consistency."
Denizli recalled his promise about the 26th week, which he made when he was first appointed to the job. When things were not going well for his team, Denizli said that by the time 26th week comes, the face of the league would change.
"When I said that, I meant that there would be a table like that," he said. "It can be like that in 30th or 32nd week as well."
"We were eight points behind some of the teams then, and we are ahead now."
Things look alright for Beşiktaş, and Sunday’s big game between Trabzonspor and Galatasaray helped it.
The final score of 2-2 was a fine result for other three title contenders, but not for Trabzonspor coach Ersun Yanal.
"We deserved to win," said Yanal. "We lost two points."
"In the recent weeks, we fail to get what we deserve," he explained. "The first goal by Alanzinho was a great morale boost to the team, but we conceded a goal in the moment we stopped and waited for a foul."
"They took the lead in the first 15 minutes of the second half. We evened the score with a late goal but could not win," he added. "I congratulate my players for their performance, but we want to get three points in the next game."
It was worthy of a do-or-die game for both teams, and the draw helped them survive for both. Playing the Trabzonspor game between two tough UEFA Cup fixtures against Hamburg, Galatasaray coach Bülent Korkmaz seemed happier for the result.
"After a tough away game at Hamburg, we came to play at Trabzonspor," said Korkmaz. "It was hard to play well in two away games in four days, but we showed Galatasaray spirit today. As long as we keep doing it, we don’t have fear or a problem, and go our way."
Fenerbahçe conceded a late goal to drop two points with a surprise 1-1 draw against lowly Kocaelispor on Friday, while Trabzonspor and Galatasaray shared one point each in the weekend’s big game, which ended 2-2. So, it was a fine weekend for Sivasspor and Beşiktaş, who both won their games Saturday.
Leader Sivasspor managed to overcome Ankaragücü with two goals in the second half and ended its three-week losing streak.
Mehmet Yıldız and Yannick Kamanan scored the goals for Sivasspor, which played without its coach Bülent Uygun because he was suspended. Uygun was suspended because of his appeals to the referee after the Ankaraspor game the previous week and had to watch the game from the stands. The coach enjoyed his players’ support, however, as Yıldız pointed at him after scoring his goal.
It was assistant coach Esat Karaberberoğlu who managed his team during the game and answered questions in the post-match conference.
Sivasspor highly motivated
"My players were highly motivated about the game, especially after Fenerbahçe dropped points," he said. "Ankaragücü played well, but we won three points thanks to our experience."
According to Ankaragücü coach Hakan Kutlu, Sivasspor was lucky.
"My players did well throughout the 90 minutes of play, but we go home empty-handed after individual mistakes," he said. "The luck was on Sivasspor’s side today."
Sivasspor tops the league, but Beşiktaş trails by only one point. The Black Eagles were the other happy side of the weekend, as they beat Gençlerbirliği 3-0 on Saturday.
Just like Sivasspor, Beşiktaş needed a second half push for the win, scoring all three goals in the last half-hour of the game.
German midfielder Fabian Ernst scored his first goal for Beşiktaş in the 64th minute, as it was for Ekrem Dağ when he scored in the 87th. Filip Holosko closed the account with a header in the dying seconds of the game.
Coach Mustafa Denizli said that in a league that stages too many surprising results, Beşiktaş tries hard to avoid upsets.
"An interesting season is going on," said Denizli. "We battle to avoid surprising losses. The league is difficult, but every one of my players is up for it." Speaking to the reporters before yesterday’s training session, Denizli added that the balances are changing every week.
’Everything is changing every week’
"Everything is changing every week in such a league," Denizli explained. "Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe dropped points. Trabzonspor has not won [at home] in three weeks. There is no consistency."
Denizli recalled his promise about the 26th week, which he made when he was first appointed to the job. When things were not going well for his team, Denizli said that by the time 26th week comes, the face of the league would change.
"When I said that, I meant that there would be a table like that," he said. "It can be like that in 30th or 32nd week as well."
"We were eight points behind some of the teams then, and we are ahead now."
Things look alright for Beşiktaş, and Sunday’s big game between Trabzonspor and Galatasaray helped it.
The final score of 2-2 was a fine result for other three title contenders, but not for Trabzonspor coach Ersun Yanal.
"We deserved to win," said Yanal. "We lost two points."
"In the recent weeks, we fail to get what we deserve," he explained. "The first goal by Alanzinho was a great morale boost to the team, but we conceded a goal in the moment we stopped and waited for a foul."
"They took the lead in the first 15 minutes of the second half. We evened the score with a late goal but could not win," he added. "I congratulate my players for their performance, but we want to get three points in the next game."
It was worthy of a do-or-die game for both teams, and the draw helped them survive for both. Playing the Trabzonspor game between two tough UEFA Cup fixtures against Hamburg, Galatasaray coach Bülent Korkmaz seemed happier for the result.
"After a tough away game at Hamburg, we came to play at Trabzonspor," said Korkmaz. "It was hard to play well in two away games in four days, but we showed Galatasaray spirit today. As long as we keep doing it, we don’t have fear or a problem, and go our way."