Fener finds its way just in time once again

If there is one thing that Fenerbahçe has become a master at, it is bouncing back during local derbies just after suffering heavy setbacks. Saturday’s 2-1 victory over archrival Beşiktaş was another perfect example of this.

Although both of Istanbul’s greats were far from top form, Beşiktaş looked the slight favorite before Saturday’s clash. It was sitting on second spot right behind Trabzonspor and won its last game against Eskişehirspor last week. On the other hand, Fenerbahçe was not looking promising, as it was held for a 0-0 draw at Ankaragücü three days before being knocked out of the Champions League with a 2-1 loss at the hands of Porto on Wednesday.

However, that was not a matter for Fenerbahçe, which managed to beat bitter rival Galatasaray 4-1 in the wake of a string of bad results.

Coincidentally, Saturday’s opening goal came from defensive midfielder Selçuk Şahin, who also scored his team’s first goal against Galatasaray. Selçuk headed the ball into the net in the 11th minute to give Fener the lead the game at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

The game continued at a great pace and Beşiktaş equalized with a former Fenerbahçe player Mert Nobre. The Brazilian-turned-Turkish striker shot the ball in following a pass by Ekrem Dağ in the 21st minute. However, Fenerbahçe retook the lead six minutes later when Daniel Güiza followed the ball after a long kick by goalkeeper Volkan Demirel. Beşiktaş could have leveled the game again but a red card shown to midfielder Edouard Cisse left it with ten men, easing the job for Fenerbahçe.

Slowing down
That also helped Fenerbahçe slow down the pace of the game in the second half. Replacing attacker Alex with combative midfielder Josico, coach Luis Aragones put the emphasis on defense and at the end, got what he wanted, although he admitted that his side could have done more against a 10-man team.

"When the game was played with 11 men on 11, they were clearly the better side," said the Spaniard after the game. "After the red card, we were not good enough in the counter attacks." At the end, Aragones said his side was "the slightly better side."

Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli said that it was hard to play with one man less than a strong opponent but took the risk of continuing to play attacking football.

"Especially during the second half, we took risks, we played as if we were 11," said the coach. "It was not something that we could keep up for a long time. We could find some goal chances with that mentality, but of course we left more spaces for them to find openings."

With the win, Fenerbahçe climbed up to fourth spot, which is the highest it has been this season. However, Galatasaray may reclaim the fourth position with a win over Hacettepe in a game that was scheduled later yesterday. Beşiktaş remained second, as Sivasspor climbed to third after Ankaraspor lost to Ankaragücü.

Kocaeli rising
Kocaelispor got its second win of the year yesterday, as it beat Konyaspor with three late goals.

Former Beşiktaş striker Ahmet Dursun opened the scoring in the 82nd minute, and Murat Hacıoğlu put the home team some distance ahead with his goal only two minutes later. Experienced striker Taner Gülleri capped the victory with a goal in the 90th.

After only two draws in the first 10 weeks, Kocaelispor began to show some vital signs and totaled five points in four games. With the Konyaspor victory, the bottom-dweller side extended their unbeaten streak to three.

Another relegation-battler, Antalyaspor sneaked a point from Bursaspor yesterday. The 1-1 draw marked Antalyaspor’s fifth game without a defeat after Mehmet Özdilek was brought into the coaching role, while Bursaspor is in free fall after seven matches without a win.

The Gençlerbirliği-Istanbul Municipality match ended in a stalemate, which was the only goalless game of the weekend.

On the week’s opening game, leader Trabzonspor was held to another draw at the hands of solid Kayserispor but continues its reign in the league.