Greek Gekas frustrates Fener, Beşiktaş kicks bucket

That picture has not changed, but the going seems to be getting really tough for the İstanbul “football aristocrats.”

When Spor Toto Super League leader Galatasaray dropped two precious points after a 1-1 home draw in week 24 with Antalyaspor on Wednesday evening, little did century-old rivals Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş know they would be singing the same refrain the following day. And the fact of the matter is that they fared even worse.

The Yellow Canaries, as Fenerbahçe is popularly called, were the first casualties on Thursday as they were mercilessly walloped 3-1 at 19 Mayıs Stadium by Black Sea newcomer Samsunspor -- a tiny team operating on a shoestring budget and fighting an uphill battle against the drop.

Beşiktaş, dubbed the Black Eagles, followed suit as it went crashing 1-0 at its Fiyapı İnönü Stadium against another Super League newcomer, Mersin İdman Yurdu.

Samsun’s Greek hero Gekas

Samsunspor’s Greek striker Theofanis Gekas hitting a hat trick on Thursday evening against the Canaries shows why politics should have no place in football.

Turkey and Greece have never gotten well politically but Gekas is a hero now at Samsun, where he also gets superstar treatment at this Black Sea city famous for its hospitality.

The 31-year-old Gekas -- the first Greece-born football player in the Turkish league -- was acquired during the January transfer window and is now the talk of the town, having scored six goals in four outings.

Slovakia striker Miroslav Stoch, the only player worth mentioning on the Fenerbahçe team, scored a solo effort after only six minutes to give the Canaries a 1-0 lead, but Gekas converted a penalty in the 41st for Samsunspor’s equalizer and both teams went to their dressing rooms tied at 1-1.

The second and third goals in the second half came from dead ball situations. Gekas headed home a Serdar Özkan free kick in the 71st to make the score 2-1 and reconnected another Serdar free kick four minutes later (75th) to settle the deal: Samsunspor 3, Fenerbahçe 1.

Young Fener coach Aykut Kocaman seems to have forgotten about this defeat and is looking forward to the İstanbul derby against Beşiktaş at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium on Sunday.

“We scored early and therefore had an early advantage, but just could not protect our lead,” Kocaman said. “Now we are looking forward to the Beşiktaş match on Sunday. And if it is necessary, I will field newly signed [Senegal striker] Moussa Sow in this derby,” he noted.

Eagles follow suit

The Eagles were expected to fare better than Fenerbahçe in their late match at home against Mersin. But that was not the case as Carlos Carvalhal’s men “kicked the bucket,” losing 1-0 in front of their singing and chanting females fans -- who replaced their male counterparts who were banned.

A goal by Munich-born striker Erdal Kılıçaslan in the 44th was the only thing that separated the two teams but it was enough to give Mersin three points and put Beşiktaş and Carvalhal on the receiving end of the merciless sports media.

Carvalhal blamed the tight schedule for the İstanbul debacle. “I said last week that this tight-schedule is energy sapping,” he said.

“And I can also say that our performance was affected by the too many games [a league match every other day] we play and also because not too many fans turned up for the game,” he underlined.

For the record: Beşiktaş was ordered by the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee (PFDK) to play this match behind closed doors, meaning only women and young children were welcome at İnönü.

It was a bad day for the Eagles, a day everything went wrong. Defenders Roberto Hilbert and İsmail Köybaşı were stretchered off the pitch in the first half of Thursday’s match, while Portugal playmaker Ricardo Quaresma -- making a comeback after several months on the sidelines -- saw red in the 84th.

To add insult to injury, Portugal midfielder Manuel Fernandes, who was sent off at Kayseri in week 23, was handed a two-match suspension by the PFDK. Fernandes missed Thursday’s match and will also miss the İstanbul derby against Fenerbahçe on Sunday unless the PFDK reverses its decision.

If the suspension order holds, it would mean the Black Eagles -- without Hilbert, İsmail, Quaresma and Fernandes -- being reduced to bare bones for the Kadıköy clash.