Pride, passion and fascinating stories from Asia Minor
A mistake made by many is to presume that money will guarantee success. Just ask Florentino Perez over in Madrid.
However, if Friday night’s opener to the second half of the Turkish Super Lig was anything to go by, it seems Besiktas owner Yildirim Demiroren has got his money spot on this time around.
Besiktas hosted Bucaspor with new signings Hugo Almeida and Simao Sabrosa both given starting places by Bernd Schuster. What happened next appeared almost a formality as Besiktas, thanks to two goals from Guti and yet another dazzling performance by Ricky Quaresma, set about smashing five past their hapless opponents.
Simao was on target with Guti’s brace matched, and bettered, by Mert Nobre’s Hernandez-like back-header.
It was just the start everybody expected from the Black Eagles, and exactly what Besiktas themselves will have hoped for as they optimistically attempt to close what was a 14 point gap to leaders Trabzonspor – a gap reduced to 12 points by the end of the weekend with Trabzon stumbling at home to Ankaragucu.
The league leaders were good value for their money during the first half of the season and manager Senol Gunes was quick to bat away any suggestions of shaky nerves following their 1-1 draw.
With one beady eye on a potentially title deciding weekend trip to Fenerbahce, Gunes reeled off a lengthy press conference, repeated himself many times and did all but push the big red panic button under his desk before his seat shot out of the roof and into infinity.
Fenerbahce were lifted, quite literally, by Gokhan Gonul’s perfectly weighted goal which ensured a 1-0 win at Antalyaspor. It was hardly a performance that oozed class but a statement of confidence was issued with all the players running to surround manager Aykut Kocaman following the goal.
It’s been a turbulent first season in charge for one of the clubs most favoured former players and with speculation about his future rife once again, the message to the big wigs was loud and clear.
Bursaspor’s 0-0 draw at Konyaspor allowed Fener to close the gap between second and third to just two points. Kenny Miller made his first appearance following his ‘career’ move – please, no mention of the words week or £50,000 – but even his presence was not enough to spur on the Bursa attack.
In Istanbul, Galatasaray played host to Sivasspor in the first league game at the sparkling Turk Telekom Arena. Servet Cetin was the unlikely hero as the giant defender poked home on 74 minutes to the delight, and presumably shock, of his own fans.
And finally, as a parting gift, I leave you with the latest video that has been circling the social media networks. Anyone hazard a guess as to why Galatasaray chose to get rid of Ali Turan this month?
RESULTS Kayserispor 3-2 Istanbul BB, Galatasaray 1-0 Sivasspor, Kasimpasa 0-1 Gaziantepspor, Konyaspor 0-0 Bursaspor, Antalyaspor 0-1 Fenerbahce, Genclerbirligi 0-1Eskisehirspor, Manisaspor 4-2 Karabukspor, Trabzonspor 1-1 Ankaragucu, Besiktas 5-1 Bucaspor
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