Fener heaves huge sigh of relief as Antep cries foul

The under-fire Güiza is the man the demanding Fener fans have really loved to hate as of late because of his incredible misses in front of the goal. But on Saturday Güiza turned from villain to savior as he whacked a cracker of a shot, after collecting a pass from Brazil defender Andre Clarindo dos Santos, into the back of the Antep net for the only goal of the match.

The hard-fought victory increased the Canaries’ points to 52 and moved them up from fourth to third above Beşiktaş in the 17-team standings. Fener had dropped from third to fourth in week 25 after the heartbreaking goalless draw with Gençlerbirliği in the capital.

Defending champion Beşiktaş, which beat the Denizlispor Roosters 1-0 away in week 25, had moved up from third to fourth. Now the Beşiktaş Black Eagles have dropped to fourth again after drawing 2-2 with Kasımpaşa on Friday night. So for two weeks running, the Canaries and the Eagles have been playing hide-and-go-seek in the Super League.

Daum lauds Güiza

Naturally, embattled Daum heaped praise on embattled Güiza during his post-match news conference. “We were under immense pressure before this match and it was a very important victory for us,” a visibly relieved Daum said.

“Güiza scored an incredible goal and we won 1-0. Güiza is an asset to our team [Fenerbahçe] and a typical goal scorer. He hits good shots and scores good goals and we are very happy to have him with us. I came here to help Fenerbahçe and I rest assured that with this victory the tide will change in our favor,” he added.

Controversy brews

The Fenerbahçe-Gaziantepspor match is over and everybody -- players, coaches, administrators, fans, you name it -- has gone home. However, the reverberations continue to rumble on as the Gaziantepspor Falcons are looking for ulterior motives behind their defeat.

Gaziantepspor Portuguese coach Jose Couceiro opened a can of worms when he accused referee Kuddusi Müftüoğlu of outright favoritism. “It is very difficult to play against Fenerbahçe,” the angry and frustrated Portuguese said. “It was difficult for us because when you play against Fenerbahçe, you are up against other factors as well,” he also stated.

“Our attacks in particular were stopped by vicious fouls [and the referee did nothing]. For instance, [midfielder] Olcan Adın was felled four to five times. And for a team that wanted to launch lightning counterattacks, it was a difficult if not impossible task,” he further noted.

Irate Gaziantepspor Chairman İbrahim Kızıl was even more vocal. “Some people went into the referees’ dressing room during halftime,” he claimed. “Kuddusi Müftüoğlu is a manly man and so he must come forward and say who entered their room. If not, I know them and I will say who they are,” Kızıl threatened. “If people exert pressure on the referee, then where is this league heading to? If people go to the referees’ dressing room and mount pressure on them, then how can referees officiate without fear or favor? The referees are also human,” he added.

Fener reaction

“Which position was Couceiro talking about?” Daum asked. Maybe he was referring to the infringement on Andre Santos in the box in which no penalty was awarded. I think he must have been referring to that,” the German said sarcastically.

For his part, Fenerbahçe Vice Chairman Nihat Özdemir said it was his team and not Antep that was victimized by the referee. “Whose penalty was not awarded?” he asked. “I call on Central Refereeing Board [MHK] Chairman Oğüz Sarvan to come forward and speak out,” he stated.

Özdemir, responding to the accusation made by the Antep chairman, said Fenerbahçe Chairman Aziz Yıldırım went to see his players in their dressing room when he ran into referee Müftüoğlu in the corridor.