Last minute goals help Ankaraspor stay second

Two goals in the dying minutes helped second-place Ankaraspor beat in-form Eskişehirspor 2-0 yesterday and grab its fifth consecutive win in the Turkcell Super League.

The game seemed to be destined to end in a deadlock as both teams had hard times finding openings in the other’s defense. Eskişehirspor’s resistance saw it win 4-2 against Galatasaray and settle for a 2-2 draw against Fenerbahçe in recent weeks, but this time it could not hold out for a point.

The match clock was showing the 89th minute when Senegalese striker Madiou Konate’s shot went in to break the stalemate and with seconds left in the play, red-hot forward Mehmet Çakır pulled another goal, his seventh in this campaign, to set the final score.

Ankaraspor is on a thrilling run of eight unbeaten games currently to become the unlikely holder of the second-spot in the league but the real test for Aykut Kocaman’s side is yet to come: It will play Istanbul’s big three of Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş in the following four weeks.

Also yesterday, the league’s solid Anatolians, Kayserispor and Sivasspor, both suffered unexpected losses. On a weekend when Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe were to play later on Sunday, both teams missed out on climbing up the table.

Sivas stunned
Sivasspor lost to a 10-men Antalyaspor 2-1, and lost its third-spot.

Pacome Djiehoua scored the first goal of the game in the 36th minute but his efforts looked like being canceled out when he was sent off in the 50th, only three minutes after on-form striker Mehmet Yıldız equalized. However, left-back Orhan Ak’s 70th minute shot won the game for the southern side, which climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.

Antalyaspor has had its only two wins in the two games it has since coach Mehmet Özdilek was brought to helm.

The situation was similar when Kayserispor lost to Denizlispor 1-0, in another encounter where a stronger side in the division was upset by a relegation battler.
 
Earlier in the weekend, Trabzonspor maintained its league lead with a 1-0 win over Hacettepe. Argentina’s Gustavo Colman scored the only goal to extend Trabzon’s time at the top.

Trabzonspor coach Ersun Yanal was happy with extending the lead, but not about the team’s performance. Speaking after the game, Yanal claimed that only the goal and a few chances were positive about the way they played.

“Apart from those positions, we were not the team to dictate the game and influence the opposition,” he said after the game. “We did not have the emotional integrity to maintain a high motivation. We should handle the emotional situation better in every game.”

But at the end of the day, Trabzonspor got what it wanted – three points.

“We managed to close the weekend at the top, just as we started it,” he added. “Trabzonspor is a newly-built team and will need to be soliders to enjoy good results in the long term. We have to avoid getting carried away in excitement, so I thank our fans who supported us from the start till the end.”

In the weekend’s opening game, Beşiktaş rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat lowly Kocaelispor 5-2. After two consecutive games without a win, Beşiktaş rediscovered its winning ways and climbed back to third spot.