The Gaziantep team trounced Galatasaray 4-2 in its first away at Türk Telekom Arena in week 8 of the Spor Toto Super League, which saw some of the worst refereeing of the season. But Galatasaray has to win to prevail as the leader.
The Lions, as Galatasaray is popularly known, are suffering at the moment as two of its main stars, right winger Emmanuel Eboue and Czech forward Milan Baros, are missing from the team. Ivory Coast midfielder Eboue is with his national team for the African Cup of Nations, while Baros is suspended due to a red card offense. Coach Fatih Terim admitted after his team’s match against Antalyaspor on Wednesday that Galatasaray has been feeling the absence of Eboue, as his efforts to put Turkey midfielder Sabri Sarıoğlu as his substitute have not worked. The Galatasaray coach was looking forward to the recovery of injury-prone striker Baros for weeks, but the Czech star was shown a red card for his insistent appeal against the referee’s decisions in Wednesday’s Medical Park Antalyaspor game after only being on the pitch for 15 minutes. Turkish media outlets reported on Friday that Baros shot himself in the foot with the red card and is expected to be suspended for three weeks. Defender Yekta Kurtuluş is also sidelined because of an injury. The good news is on-form striker Necati Ateş returned to Galatasaray this week in the last day of the winter transfer window. Terim is estimated to put enthusiastic Necati in the starting 11 to replace Baros.
The Lions have lost a total of seven points in the last four games, clinching a single victory against bottom-of-the-league Ankaragücü, which is sinking in a quagmire of debt. The fall of the leader began with a draw with Eskişehirspor and continued after Galatasaray was defeated by coach Ertuğrul Sağlam’s Bursaspor. On Wednesday, Galatasaray drew 1-1 with Antalyaspor. The Lions are still in the lead despite losing seven points in its last four games and are three points ahead of runner-up Fenerbahçe, which missed the chance to catch up with Galatasaray, after losing 3-1 unexpectedly to Samsunspor on Thursday evening.
Gaziantepspor, which is right above the last three teams at the bottom of the league standings, is seeking to escape relegation and beat the leading team. Coach Hikmet Karaman, who recently replaced coach Abdullah Ercan after he resigned due to the unsuccessful results of his team, said Gaziantep aims to move away from the bottom three spots.
Elsewhere tonight Medical Park Antalyaspor entertains Trabzonspor in the southern city of Antalya. Both teams are on form ahead of their clash on Saturday evening. Trabzonspor continues chasing the top three, holding the fourth and the last playoff spot; however, fellow Anatolian teams Gençlerbirliği and Sivasspor are following too closely, trailing the Trabzon team by two and four points, respectively, to allow the Trabzon team to feel comfortable on the league table. The decline of the top three teams also raises hopes that Trabzonspor will be able to climb up the table.
Neither ambitious to get to the championship playoffs nor threatened by relegation, as it has kept a safe distance from the bottom of the league table, Antalyaspor, which holds 12th place, seeks to bring another giant down after drawing 1-1 with leader Galatasaray.
