The last day of the Turkish Super League has taken place and saw the final matches determine the winners, and the losers in the top tier of Turkish football BonusBets.com reports today.
Relegated side Akhisarspor was joined by Bursaspor and Erzurumspor to fall out of the Super League and will play their football in the First Division from next season. This was despite Bursapor beating Malatyaspor 2-1 in their final game which saw Malatyaspor finish in fifth place and progress to playing UEFA Europa League football next season.
The failure by Bursaspor to remain in top flight football in the country means that this is the first time that a former Championship winner has been relegated from the Super League. Bursaspor won the League back in 2010. Göztepe managed to finish one point ahead of Bursaspor after they managed to score a late goal to beat Ankaragücü 2-1
Erzurumspor also dropped to the first division despite winning their final game against Kayserispor 2-0.
Galatasaray clinched their record twenty-second league trophy and organised a special ceremony to celebrate with their fans at the Lion’s Türk Telekom Stadium. This win sees them gain automatic qualification for the Champions League Group stages.
Second-placed Başakşehir will have to wait and see if they achieve qualification for the champions league, as they will need to win to get in after finishing just two points behind Galatasaray following a draw in their final match of the season. The third and fourth placed teams, Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor, will join Malatyaspor in the Europa League next season. Both sides winning their final games of the season 3-2.
Fenerbahçe beat Antalyaspor 3-1 in their final game of the season. Which saw their season end in sixth places following a four-game winning streak. The club has struggled earlier on in the season, and so a sixth place was seen as a good conclusion to the season.
In the First Division, both Denizlispor and Gençlerbirliği finished in first and second place, which sees them automatically get promoted to the Turkish Spor Toto Super League. The final promotion spot is still open with a play-off decider game to be played between Hatayspor and Gazişehir in Istanbul on 30th May. Both teams will be playing their hearts out to win that promotion.
Mbaye Diagne, who plays his football at Galatasaray, became the leagues’ top goal scorer despite having spent the first half of the season with Kasımpaşa. Achieving a massive thirty goals during the season. His closest contender was Vedat Muriç who only managed seventeen goals while playing for Rizespor. Top league goalscorer wasn’t the only accolade for Diagne as he became the record holder for the foreign player with the most goals scored in the Turkish League.
Next season will see a hard fought league as Galatasaray will try and make it a twenty-third championship, though it was a much closer contest this year as Başakşehir and Galatasaray were on equal points until they faced each other.
