Solid Sivas replaces Trabzon atop league
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Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 15, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - Turkcell Super League's leader changes again, as Sivasspor climbs to the top spot with a win over Hacettepe. Bülent Uygun’s side does not let the chance slip from its hands after former leader Trabzonspor is downed with a late goal at the hands of Bursaspor.
Amid cold weather and high altitude, Sivasspor rose to the top of Turkcell Super League again, beating lowly Hacettepe 2-1 on Saturday.
On a day when Trabzonspor, which has been holding the top spot for six weeks, lost to Bursaspor, Sivasspor made the most of that advantage with a win.
A brace of goals by Cameroonian striker Herve Tum won the game for Sivasspor, while a penalty kick goal from Sandro Mendonça was not enough for Hacettepe.
Sivasspor coach Bülent Uygun praised his team and the opponents for trying to play the best as they can in such atmosphere.
"Both teams played beautiful football," said Uygun, adding that it was important "especially on a day when the temperature was minus 10 degrees Celsius, and on a pitch when it was not really suitable for playing."
Uygun said Hacettepe, which is on the 17th spot in the standings, is one of the finest teams to visit the 4 Eylül Stadium this season, and it did not deserve its current position.
Two weeks left
Sivasspor slid into to the top spot with a better goal difference than Trabzonspor.
"We want to finish the first part of the season atop," said Uygun, with two weeks left in that period.
Hero of the day, Herve Tum, scored his second and third league goals for Sivasspor 11 weeks after he last did against Bursaspor on Oct. 14.
"Scoring goals feels good," said the 29-year-old. "I am happy to score a double after a long drought and I am happy that we won."
After finishing last season in club-record fourth position, Sivasspor does not seem to be exhausted and looks to be in the title race.
"We want to do better than we did last year," said defender Hayrettin Yerlikaya.
Also on Saturday, Trabzonspor lost the league lead with a surprise 2-1 loss at the hands of Bursaspor.
Trabzonspor’s Umut Bulut responded to Gökhan Güleç’s first goal, but the Crocs’ starlet Sercan Yıldırım scored the winning goal in the dying seconds of the game.
Coach Ersun Yanal was utterly frustrated by that defeat.
"We are really sad at the moment, for losing a game that we could win," said Yanal after the game. "We wanted the win more than our opponents did, but we simply could not."
Yanal said his team would recover from that defeat immediately.
"We will focus on our job more from now on, we will have tough games, and so will our opponents," he said. "We lost the top spot for now, but we want to be there at the end of the league."
Trabzonspor’s youngster Barış Memiş said the team’s older members held a team meeting after the game.
"We underlined that we should get over that defeat and win the next games to grab the top spot again," he said. "We believe in ourselves."
Beşiktaş recovered from a two-week series of defeats on the Saturday night’s closing game, when it beat Ankaragücü 1-0.
Slovakian attacker Filip Holosko scored in the 25th minute of the game, ending his four-week goal drought, which turned out to be the match-winning strike.
"Getting three points was crucial for us," said coach Mustafa Denizli. "That was way more important than playing well tonight. It was a difficult night for any member of our team and we are happy that it ended the way it is." Turkcell Super League’s week 15 was a happy one for Galatasaray as well, after the Lions beat Gençlerbirliği 3-1 on Friday night.
Milan Baros, Arda Turan and Lincoln scored the goals for Galatasaray, which completed a four-week series of games against teams from Ankara.
On a day when Trabzonspor, which has been holding the top spot for six weeks, lost to Bursaspor, Sivasspor made the most of that advantage with a win.
A brace of goals by Cameroonian striker Herve Tum won the game for Sivasspor, while a penalty kick goal from Sandro Mendonça was not enough for Hacettepe.
Sivasspor coach Bülent Uygun praised his team and the opponents for trying to play the best as they can in such atmosphere.
"Both teams played beautiful football," said Uygun, adding that it was important "especially on a day when the temperature was minus 10 degrees Celsius, and on a pitch when it was not really suitable for playing."
Uygun said Hacettepe, which is on the 17th spot in the standings, is one of the finest teams to visit the 4 Eylül Stadium this season, and it did not deserve its current position.
Two weeks left
Sivasspor slid into to the top spot with a better goal difference than Trabzonspor.
"We want to finish the first part of the season atop," said Uygun, with two weeks left in that period.
Hero of the day, Herve Tum, scored his second and third league goals for Sivasspor 11 weeks after he last did against Bursaspor on Oct. 14.
"Scoring goals feels good," said the 29-year-old. "I am happy to score a double after a long drought and I am happy that we won."
After finishing last season in club-record fourth position, Sivasspor does not seem to be exhausted and looks to be in the title race.
"We want to do better than we did last year," said defender Hayrettin Yerlikaya.
Also on Saturday, Trabzonspor lost the league lead with a surprise 2-1 loss at the hands of Bursaspor.
Trabzonspor’s Umut Bulut responded to Gökhan Güleç’s first goal, but the Crocs’ starlet Sercan Yıldırım scored the winning goal in the dying seconds of the game.
Coach Ersun Yanal was utterly frustrated by that defeat.
"We are really sad at the moment, for losing a game that we could win," said Yanal after the game. "We wanted the win more than our opponents did, but we simply could not."
Yanal said his team would recover from that defeat immediately.
"We will focus on our job more from now on, we will have tough games, and so will our opponents," he said. "We lost the top spot for now, but we want to be there at the end of the league."
Trabzonspor’s youngster Barış Memiş said the team’s older members held a team meeting after the game.
"We underlined that we should get over that defeat and win the next games to grab the top spot again," he said. "We believe in ourselves."
Beşiktaş recovered from a two-week series of defeats on the Saturday night’s closing game, when it beat Ankaragücü 1-0.
Slovakian attacker Filip Holosko scored in the 25th minute of the game, ending his four-week goal drought, which turned out to be the match-winning strike.
"Getting three points was crucial for us," said coach Mustafa Denizli. "That was way more important than playing well tonight. It was a difficult night for any member of our team and we are happy that it ended the way it is." Turkcell Super League’s week 15 was a happy one for Galatasaray as well, after the Lions beat Gençlerbirliği 3-1 on Friday night.
Milan Baros, Arda Turan and Lincoln scored the goals for Galatasaray, which completed a four-week series of games against teams from Ankara.