Today's Zaman

Eklenme Tarihi: May 26, 2009

Championship race goes down to the wire

League leader Beşiktaş won at home on Sunday night and so did its closest rival, Sivasspor, meaning the race for the 2008-2009 Turkcell Super League title now goes down to the final day this weekend.

Going into the penultimate weekend of the league, the Beşiktaş Black Eagles led Sivasspor by two points, so it was incumbent upon the Eagles to beat visiting defending champion Galatasaray in their derby at İstanbul's İnönü Stadium and also for Sivasspor to win at home over Ankara's Gençlerbirliği at the 4 Eylül Stadium to send the championship race to the wire.

And so it came to pass. The Eagles beat the Galatasaray Lions 2-1 with a header goal by Brazilian striker Bobo in the 41st minute and another by second half substitute Yusuf Şimşek, with a solo effort, in the 59th. Galatasaray's consolation goal was from Aussie winger Harry Kewell in the 49th.

“At this stage of the league the important thing is victory, no matter how small … not to play well and lose,” Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli said.

The Yiğidolar (Brave Men), as Sivasspor is known in soccer circles, showed staying power by rebounding from one goal down in the first half to beat gritty Gençlerbirliği 3-2 in front of their boisterous fans at 4 Eylül. Young Aussie forward James Troisi silenced the Sivas faithful at the stadium in the 22nd minute when he scored to put Gençler 1-0 up. But three second-half goals in under 20 minutes -- by Yannick Kamanan (48th), Herve Tum (60th) and Murat Erdoğan (66th) -- restored the Yiğidolar's chances of a maiden league title for another week. Gençler reduced the tally to 3-2 in the 72nd through a goal by Cameroonian Jacques Momha.

As things now stand, Beşiktaş is the top favorite for the title, or in the worst-case scenario runner-up, because Sivasspor is the only team that can stop the Eagles from being champs this season.

Source: Today's Zaman