Lions endure booing and jeering from irate fans at Ali Sami Yen

From the look of things, it will take some time for the Galatasaray fans to forget and then forgive the players and technical staff after their team’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of eternal rival Fenerbahçe in week 27 of the Turkcell Super League.

That defeat was exasperating enough, but last Monday’s 1-1 away draw with relegation-threatened Sivasspor was the last straw. And the draw coming in the first minute of injury time (91st) was just something the Galatasaray fans could not bear, nay accept.

Fans far from impressed

Sunday’s win was Galatasaray’s second victory in six matches, and the irate and disillusioned fans were naturally far from impressed. And so for the entire duration of the game a group of Galatasaray fans booed, jeered and whistled whenever their players touched the ball.

They singled out benched Argentine keeper Leo Franco, who conceded an incredible long-range shot against Fener, as well as substitute Brazil striker Joao Alves (Jo), as the Jonahs who must be thrown into the sea.

Not only did the Galatasaray fans hurl insults at the completely demoralized Franco and boo and whistle whenever Jo chased the ball, they also held up a banner which read, “We don’t need no rookie footballers.”

One cannot recall the last time something like this happened at Galatasaray. That the Lions could still concentrate, play and win in this unwelcome and intimidating atmosphere is worthy of praise at least.

Glimmer of hope

Irrespective of the harsh reactions from their own fans, the Galatasaray Lions seem to be back in this season’s championship race -- or at least a second-place finish -- with Sunday’s win. There are five weeks to go, which means 15 precious points are still at stake.

“I understand the fury of the fans,” Galatasaray Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard said in his post-match news conference. “Our fans are absolutely right because the expectations were sky high, and we ought to have done much better. And we can only appease them by winning all our remaining five matches,” he further noted.

Czech striker Milan Baros, who suffered a broken foot during the “mother of all derbies” against Fenerbahçe in week 10 and only returned to action a few weeks ago, hit a hat trick for the Lions -- scoring two header goals in the 18th and 28th minutes and another with the right foot in the 52nd.

Australia defender Lucas Edward Neill, who scored the third goal, was the only other player on the Galatasaray score sheet. Neill found the back of the Diyar net in the 51st with a cracker of a shot from close range following a goalmouth scramble after a corner kick.

Diyarbakırspor’s consolation goal came from a header by striker Gustave Bebbe in the 72nd. Diyar seems doomed for the drop this season, and there is practically nothing coach Güvenç Kurtar, whose surname translates as “savior,” can do at this stage to save himself and his southeastern squad.

And if as expected the Lions fail to win the league title or finish second and miss out on the big-time UEFA Champions League next season, it would definitely be as a result of Baros being sidelined for almost half the season through injury.

“There are no ifs and buts in football,” Baros said when asked if his long absence had adversely affected Galatasaray play and ambitions. “We must look ahead and work harder to achieve good results in the remaining matches,” he further noted.

Big beneficiaries

Defending champion Beşiktaş drew 0-0 at home with Trabzonspor on Saturday and leader Bursaspor sang the same refrain in the capital with Gençlerbirliği on Sunday. This means the biggest beneficiaries in week 29 were Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, which was awarded three points without even kicking a ball.

The Lions have now moved up from fourth to third, trailing Bursaspor by five points and Fenerbahçe by four. This is not an unbridgeable gap in the three-point league system. The fact of the matter, though, is that Galatasaray’s fate is no longer in its hands, but in those of its rivals.

Simply put, the Lions must not only win all the remaining matches but must also hope that Bursaspor and Fener drop points for a miracle to happen. This undoubtedly will give added importance to the title race as the season heads down the homestretch.

Doomed Denizlispor stumbled onto a winning formula, beating visiting Eskişehirspor 1-0 at the Atatürk Stadium.

Kasımpaşa made life all the more difficult for struggler Ankaragücü, beating the capital representative 2-0 at the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium in İstanbul. And ecstatic coach Yılmaz Vural declared Kasımpaşa “the Barcelona of the Super League.”