The Turkish league title race heated up this week with Besiktas extending their win streak to six games, Galatasaray returning to winning ways and Fenerbahce slipping up against last-placed Genclerbirligi.
Besiktas were first to play and faced reigning Super Lig champions Basaksehir.
READ: Fenerbahce star Mesut Ozil spotted with crutches, expected to be out injured for at least a month
The Istanbul minnows have struggled this season but had recently improved form. It was, however, Besiktas who took the lead when Cyle Larin found the back of the net on 42 minutes.
Deniz Turuc did equalize for the home side early in the second half but Rachid Ghezzal put Besiktas back ahead of 68 minutes.
Demba Ba scored on 76 to equalize for Basaksehir but there was still more drama as Josef De Souza put the visitors back ahead on 84 minutes to win the game.
? Beşiktaş'a galibiyeti getiren gol
⏱️ 1 dakika 2 saniye
? 17 pas☄️ Rosier'in ortası
? Josef'in kontrolü ve vuruşu?️ Güntekin Onay: "Josef'in şu kontrolü… Luis Suarez falan yapıyor bunları."
?️ İlker Yağcıoğlu: "İbrahimovic de çok sever bu işleri, inanılmaz bir gol." pic.twitter.com/YeJ0H3eKyy
— beIN SPORTS Türkiye (@beINSPORTS_TR) March 12, 2021
Galatasaray were next up and made light work of Kayserispor beating the central Anatolian side 3-0 away.
It was a tumultuous week for the Lions. After dropping points for two weeks running they terminated Younes Belhanda’s contract midweek after he lambasted the pitch conditions at the Turk Telekom Arena.
Head coach Fatih Terim will be delighted with how his side responded. Radamel Falcao has found his goal-scoring boots again. The Colombia international scored his third goal in two games.
Gol de #Falcao pic.twitter.com/7Mylmq5NH1
— Pinto (@andrespintoh) March 13, 2021
Henry Onyekuru also impressed, bagging a brace for his fifth goal since joining the Yellow-Reds in January.
The big twist this week was Fenerbahce losing 2-1 against last-placed Genclerbirligi. The worst part for the Yellow Canaries was that they actually took the lead when Jose Sosa scored on 35 minutes.
Serdar Aziz scored an own goal before halftime to level the score and Floyd Ayite won the game on 63 minutes with the visitors second goal.
Fenerbahce publically criticized the officiating after the game but they really should be doing better against the last-placed team in the league.
Yöneticilerimiz Selahattin Baki ve Alper Pirşen maçın ardından açıklamalarda bulundu. https://t.co/G7PKHBXCSY
— Fenerbahçe SK (@Fenerbahce) March 14, 2021
The defeat saw the Yellow-Navy Blues fall three points behind second-placed Galatasaray and five behind Besiktas who still have a game in hand.
And things could get a lot worse next week as Fenerbahce take on Besiktas. Should they lose the derby the Black Eagles will open up an eight-point gap with a game in hand.
