Miroslav Stoch blows the title race wide open

Going into the second round of play off fixtures, Fenerbache stood five point behind bitter rivals Galatarsaray, with a daunting trip to the Turk Telecom Arena ahead. Former Chelsea midfielder endeared himself to the away fans as he scored the winner in a 2-1 victory for the defending champions.

 Swiss defender Reto Ziegler fired home for the visitors in the 17th minute following an Alex De Sousa bass that split the centre backs. Before the game the hosts had built an electric atmosphere, unveiling a 50foot 3D lion, but the team from across the river took the lead against the run of play. Selcuk Inan’s free kick leveled the scores in the 68th minute, and Fenerbahce’s fans looked concerned as start striker Moussa Sow had been taken off injured and the home team’s dominance grew.

 Felipe Melo’s dominance in midfield was evident as Galatasaray created chance after chance, but were unable to convert any. As if often the case, their lackluster finishing cost them as Stoch broke through their lines and converted the second of the two clear cut chances the visiting team created. 

 The result leaves Fenerbahce hot on the heels of Galatasaray, although the news that Moussa Sow will miss the remaining games with a torn hamstring. Gala’s lead has been cut to just two point now, and face a tricky trip to face Trabzonspor next week. The team from the north coast saw off Besiktas 1-0, with Halil Altinstop securing all three points at the Huseyin Avni Aker stadium, moving up to third in the table.

 Bursaspor edged Istanbul 3-2 in the other play off group on Saturday. The hosts opened the scoring in 7th Minute through Doka Madureira, but in 25th Minutes team mate Mauel Holmen scored an own goal to level the tie. Stanislav Sestak and Turgay Bahadir scored ether side of half time for Bursa who managed to hold on following a late strike from Holmen at the right end.

 The other fixture saw Sivasspor earn a point in a 1-1 draw away to Eskishirspor. Batuhan Karadeniz opened the scoring for the hosts and Czech Jakub Navratil leveled in the second half. The result leaves Sivasspor top of the group with 29, Bursaspor remain a solitary point behind, with the whole group being separated by only three.

 Results:

Galatasaray 1 – 2 Fenerbahce

Trabzonspor 1 – 0 Besiktas

 Eskisehirspor 1 – 1 Sivasspor

Bursaspor 3 – 2 Istanbul BB

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Second round of play off games vital to Turkish title tilt

The second round of games in the Turkish playoffs sees Galatasaray facing another Istanbul derby, this time at home to Fenerbahce after beating Besiktas away last week. Fatih Terim’s side currently sit top of the table on 42 points, five ahead of their biggest rivals and could extent that lead to eight with a victory at the Turk Telecom Arena on Sunday.

 The weekend hosts another big game from the top playoff group as Trabzonspor host Besiktas, with both teams locked on 28 points, and jostling for third position and a guaranteed Europa League birth. Although the team from the north coast hold home advantage they will be without top scorer Burak Yilmaz, who misses out with a broken nose.

 All eyes will be on western Istanbul at 17:00 on Sunday though, as with four games left to play after this weekend, an eight point difference may be too great for Fenerbahce to overcome and retain the league title. Gala will be the favourites in the game, winning their last three games without conceding a goal; they may also hold the psychological advantage, after coming from 2-0 down to earn a draw last times the two teams met last month.

 The second playoff group sees Sivasspor travel to Eskisehirspor, the former topping the group after a dominant 4-0 victory over Bursaspor last time out. The win was not only vital for Sivas, but a positive response after crashing out of the turkish cup 1-4 the previous week to Bursa. The other game sees Istanbul BB host Bursa, after a 1-1 draw in the first games with Eskisehirspor. The group are still only separated by three points in their strive to earn the right to play for a Europa league place.

 

Predictions:

 Galatasaray 3 – 1 Fenerbahce

Trabzonspor 1 – 0 Besiktas

 Eskisehirspor 1 – 1 Sivasspor

Bursaspor 2 – 1 Istanbul BB

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Why no one has been crowned champions when the Turkish league has finished

Following the match fixing scandal that rocked Turkish Superliga last season (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17024586) the Turkish Football Federation came up with a new format for the competition this season to avoid a repeat of the scandal.

The regular season finished after 34 games, with teams playing each other home and away; the league has now been split into three tiers. The top four will play each other home and away in a mini league; their regular seasons points tally is halved, and if this results in an odd number the value is rounded up. The team that finishes first will be crowned champions, second will be given the second Champions league place, and the third a Europa League place.

The teams between fifth and eighth play each other in another mini league to earn the right to play against the team that finishes fourth, with the second Turkish Europa league birth up for grabs. I said three tiers as the teams that didn’t reach the top eight have now finished their seasons.

In the regular season, Samsunspor fell short of safety by three points, and along with Manisaspor and Ankaragurcu were relegated from the Super Liga, the latter with only 11 points.

The powerhouses of Turkish football form the top four mini league as expected, Galatasaray finished top, nine points ahead Fenerbahce, whilst Trabzonspor pipped Besiktas to third.

Eskisehirspor, Istanbul, Sivasspor and Bursapor, all separated by only a point, will contest the second mini league in the fight for the right to play for a place in Europe. Ankara based club Genclerbirligi were the unlucky ones who missed out continuing their season into the league play offs by goal difference.

The new system in place looks set to add extra spice to the big games being played at the top of the table in the hunt for the title, Galatasaray’s advantage over bitter Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce was halved to five points, and they will look to take their winning season performances into the play off league and bring the title to the Turk Telecom Arena in it’s debut season as their home ground.

Turkish Super Liga Table: 

http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=tur/nationalleague/standings.html

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