Canaries get a rare scare from Diyarbakır

The championship-chasing Canaries, playing in front of their boisterous and drum-beating fans were down 1-0 in the 83rd minute when Diyarbakırspor’s veteran Egyptian midfielder Ayman Mohamed Abdelaziz scored with a cracker of a shot from outside the Fener box.

But Brazil international left back Andre Dos Santos saved the Canaries from an embarrassing defeat, equalizing with a header goal from a corner kick taken by captain-playmaker Alex De Souza.

Diyar stuns skeptics

The Canaries and Diyarbakır survived to fight another day. But soccer fans who watched the match at Şükrü Saracoğlu or at home or at street-side cafes with LİG TV saw with their own eyes how relegation-threatened Diyar matched the much-fancied Canaries head to head, shoulder to shoulder, speed for speed and stamina for stamina.

With this result, Diyar defied all pre-match forecasts and once again proved the truism that no soccer match is ever won or lost before it is played.

Second-placed Galatasaray Lions had played to a scoreless draw with the Kayserispor Anatolian Tigers the day before, on Saturday to be more precise, meaning the top two teams both dropped points in week 20, thereby seeing their leads in the 17-team league trimmed by the teams below them.

The Lions face Mediterranean side Antalyaspor in the Ziraat Turkish Cup make-or-break second-leg quarterfinal match in İstanbul’s Ali Sami Yen Stadium on Wednesday, trailing 1-2 from the first leg in Antalya. The Canaries face a rather easy task as they take a 3-0 advantage from the İstanbul leg to Bursa on Thursday.

Daum happy with one point

Fenerbahçe’s German coach Christoph Daum was happy his team did not lose and could not conceal his relief. “It is a match we could have lost, but we didn’t,” he said, alluding to the last minute goal. “We did not give our opponents many chances to score and did not make that many turnovers. Coming from behind to get a late equalizer was worthy of praise,” he added.

“To concede a late goal and drop points was a disaster for us because we were in dire need of maximum points to move away from the relegation zone,” Diyarbakırspor coach Ziya Doğan said. “And judging from the way we played and dominated the game, we deserved the maximum points,” he further stated.

The Trabzonspor Black Sea Storm continued its resurgence in the second half of the season with a commanding 3-0 victory over visiting Manisaspor in a match that was played at the İstanbul Atatürk Stadium because Trabzon’s Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium is undergoing renovation.

A brace by striker Umut Bulut in the 22nd and 76th by another Turkey international midfielder, Ceyhun Gülselam, gave the Storm a well-deserved victory. The win also cut Fener’s lead over the Storm to eight points.

“I can say I am happy with our play and with the points,” Trabzonspor coach Şenol Güneş said. “I am also happy with the fans who turned up to cheer us on. But we still have flaws and hope to improve on our performance in the games ahead,” he added.

Other Super League results on Sunday were: Ankaragücü 0, Bursaspor 0; Kasımpaşa 2, Antalyaspor 2; and Sivasspor 2, Denizlispor 0.