Turkish League Wrap 29: Is the title race back on?
The Turkish league got very interesting over the weekend after Basaksehir humiliated reigning champions Besiktas 3-1 at home.
The once-upon-a-time Istanbul minnows had a week to remember. After holding Fenerbahce to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday they went and crushed Besiktas a few days letter.
The star of the show in both games was Cengiz Under.
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The 19-year-old forward single handedly destroyed the Fenerbahce defence with two goals inside the first 10 minutes.
Under then went and scored another brace in the following game against Besiktas.
Cengiz Ünder is on FIRE! ? 2 goals inside the first 20 mins against league leaders Beşiktaş… keep a very close eye on this kid pic.twitter.com/JBjD4FPDY4
— Turkish Football (@Turkish_Futbol1) April 30, 2017
It is little wonder several Premier League and La Liga sides including Manchester United and Atletico Madrid have been linked with the rising star.
The win completely changed the dynamics of the title race. Besiktas would have gone 10 points clear of second placed Basaksehir had they won. Instead Abdullah Avci’s plucky side closed the gap to four points.
Besiktas are still favourites to defend the title with just five games remaining but the pressure will be on. Basaksehir have made it clear they will keep the pressure on and will be waiting for the Black Eagles to slip up again.
Basaksehir’s victory was not welcomed by Fenerbahce who momentarily closed the gap with the their Istanbul cousins to one point following a hard-won 2-1 victory over Rizespor.
Moussa Sow scored a last-gasp winner to secure all three points and keep the Yellow Canaries race for a Champions League spot alive.
Moussa Sow with a last-gasp winner!
How important could that goal end up being for #Fenerbahçe? 2nd place is no longer a dream pic.twitter.com/vskwGaYvIW— Turkish Football (@Turkish_Futbol1) April 30, 2017
Trabzonspor have been closing the gap with 4th placed Galatasaray over recent weeks.
The Black Sea Storm moved just one point behind Galatasaray following their goalless draw against Genclerbirligi.
Galatasaray headed into what looked like it could be a tricky away trip against Bursaspor having lost their last two league games.
The Lions ended up making mincemeat of Bursaspor winning 5-0 and taking one giant leap towards securing European football next season.
Sneijder-Bruma-Poldi-Bruma ??#golazo pic.twitter.com/LK6dksbJGz
— Red&Yellow (@Ataqoz) May 1, 2017
Talking Points
- Bruma has scored 10 goals for the first time in his career.
- Galatasaray have scored 20 goals on the road this season, Bruma has been directly involved in 11 of them
- Wesley Sneijder has provided the highest number of assists in the league (13)
- Basaksehir are unbeaten in their last 19 league games – 13 wins, six draws
- Samuel Eto’o scored a hat-trick for the first time since 2014 for Chelsea against Manchester United
