Galatasaray took the lead in the Super League if at least for a day after they defeated Sivasspor and the bitter cold to register a crucial 3-2 win
With Galatasaray recording a 3-2 victory over Medicana Sivasspor in the Turkish Super League, the Lions have now knitted together their best campaign through 21 games since 2008. A season that will likely be remembered more for its ups than its downs would appear to have been redeemed. Cesare Prandelli's reign was uneventful and unsuccessful, picking up heavy losses in the Champions League and struggling in the domestic league. At no point have Galatasaray been anywhere near peak form. Yet, the Lions are now sitting pretty after 21 games, fully in the title race after moving top thanks to the win and their game advantage over Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe, with the two sides playing on Sunday and Monday, respectively.
The Lions had to overcome an in-form Sivasspor as well as the freezing weather conditions to come away with all three points on Saturday night. Yasin Öztekin gave the visitors the lead after nine minutes before Aatif Chahechouhe equalized six minutes before half time. Burak Yılmaz didn't let the home side celebrate for long once he netted his 13th goal of the season in the 56th minute, 11 minutes before Alex Telles made sure of the points. İbrahim Akın managed to squeeze a consolation goal for the home side. Their points total now sits at 48 and they lead the league going into Sunday.
Under Hamza Hamzoğlu's management, Galatasaray have yet to be defeated in 10 Super League games. They earned 26 points in those matches whereas the Lions could only get 19 points in 10 games under their Italian coach Prandelli. Galatasaray won only six games and were defeated three games while only mustering 12 goals and conceding 14 goals. Hamzaoğlu's "invincible" team has scored 25 goals in 10 matches and conceded 10 goals. They have won eight games and drawn two. The last time Galatasaray had earned 48 points in 21 weeks was in the 2008-09 season.
Burak Yılmaz scored his 13th goal of the season during Galatasaray's 3-2 victory over Sivasspor. The 29-year-old striker joined Bursaspor's Fernandao and Beşiktaş's Demba Ba as the league's top scorers. Yılmaz, the Turkish international who joined Galatasaray from Trabzonspor for 5 million euros in 2012, scored in the 56th minute of the game to give his side the lead.
Yılmaz finished his first season at Galatasaray as the league's leading goalscorer for the second year in a row with 24 goals in 30 appearances. The 29-year-old striker has scored 13 times in the Super League this season, once in the Turkish Cup and twice in the Champions League this season, the Turkish international has also provided four assists.
Galatasaray's star striker became the target of Sivasspor's fans during the game. He responded after the game to the Sivasspor fans who had given him a hard time throughout the game. Yılmaz said, "It is natural to become a target after you scored a goal and made one assist. But everybody must mind his own business." He got injured in the 78th minute and was replaced by Emre Çolak. Yılmaz's condition will be understood after an MRI scan.
Meanwhile Galatasaray and Beşiktaş's closest rivals in standings, Fenerbahçe, will host underdogs Akhisar Belediyespor today in Istanbul. The Yellow Canaries' veteran goalkeeper Volkan Demirel is suspended for the match versus Akhisar Belediyespor. The game at Fenerbahçe's Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium will begin at 8:00 p.m.
Elsewhere, Istanbul Başakşehir returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory against an in-form Gaziantepspor in a close encounter on Saturday. Defender Mahmut Tekdemir scored the only goal of the game in the first half. Gaziantepspor were unable to find the equalizing goal and have failed to register a goal in their last two league games. Başakşehir move into fourth place with 35 points in 21 games.
Bursaspor drew 1-1 with Rizespor at the Bursa Atatürk stadium to remain in fifth place in the Super League. The Green Crocodiles manager Şenol Güneş revealed that he was disappointed with his side's performance after the game and felt they failed to recover after going down to 10 men.
"Unfortunately, we failed to recover after going down to 10 men; we ended up drawing a game we should have won," Güneş told Lig Tv after the game. Serdar Aziz was sent off for Bursaspor and will miss next week's game against Mersin at the Bursa Atatürk stadium. Bursaspor could have moved back into fourth place following had they beat Rizespor. Despite dropping two points, Bursaspor extended their undefeated home run to eight games. The draw was not enough to take Rizespor out of the relegation zone. The Black Sea-based side remain in 16th place with 18 points.
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