Sivasspor shocked by a defeat to Gaziantepspor

Sivasspor blew a one-goal lead and a huge advantage on the way to its first Turkcell Super League title, when it was beaten 2-1 by Gaziantepspor yesterday.

Striker Mehmet Yıldız scored his 14th goal of the season when he headed the ball into an empty net following a well-timed cross ball by winger Musa Aydın in the 20th minute to give Sivas the lead.

However, the face of the game changed in the second half, as Gaziantepspor took a more attack-minded approach. Midfielder İbrahim Ferdi shot outside the box and the ball hit Sivas defender Abdurrahman Dereli before hitting the net in the 54th minute. With seven minutes before time Brazilian Beto’s header won the game for Gaziantepspor.

Coach Bülent Uygun has said three wins and a draw in the last five games would be enough for Sivas to win the title. Yesterday he admitted that his side ran out of its credit to lose.

"That’s football, we may lose today, and others will do it sometime," said Uygun to a Lig TV reporter. "Now we have to remain unbeaten in our four games."

He reminded that Sivasspor would never be considered a loser in the bid to win its first league title.

"I keep saying that: Sivasspor is the champion," Uygun said. "I don’t know who will finish the league in the first position."

Leading the league in the last 15 weeks, Sivasspor risked maintaining its position, as Beşiktaş would take the top spot with a win over Fenerbahçe. The Istanbul derby between Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe was still in progress as the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to press.

Earlier in the weekend, Trabzonspor beat Kayserispor 4-1 to put an end to its woes. The Black Sea side crushed Kayseri by four goals in the first game it played under caretaker coach Ahmet Özen in the helm on Saturday.

Ersun Yanal resigned as Trabzonspor coach last Monday, only two days after a 3-0 defeat to Sivasspor, virtually ending its title hopes.

A brace by former Kayseri striker Gökhan Ünal as well as goals by Argentine midfielder Gustavo Colman and attacker Umut Bulut gave Trabzonspor hope for securing its place in the third spot. Hero of the day Ünal paid tribute to his former coach Yanal.

"Ersun Yanal left a lot of good things behind, he was the one who created this team," said the Turkish international. "I dedicate this win to him."

Better days
Trabzonspor reserve team coach Özen, who was given the duty to complete the season as a caretaker, said that the team showed good signals. "During the week we had some problems, and I tried to help players recover from a poor morale condition," said Özen. "Today they showed signals that they may do much better in the future."

The same wave of optimism was nowhere to be found at Galatasaray, however, as the Lions were humiliated with a 2-0 defeat to Hacettepe, who is standing on the bottom of the division and counting days on the top-flight.

Two second-half goals knocked down Galatasaray, who is now only one point ahead of Bursaspor and Fenerbahçe to get hold of the last European qualification spot.

"It was a hard one to swallow," said coach Bülent Korkmaz after the game. "Hacettepe wanted it more than we did. I congratulate them."

After the game, the fans called the former Galatasaray legend to resign, but Korkmaz said that he would not discuss such issues publicly.