The second week of the Süper Lig had more action than a Turkish soap opera. From Ricardo Quaresma scoring wonder-goals to newly promoted Osmanlispor toppling reigning champions Galatasaray at the Türk Telekom Arena and a lot more in-between.
The second round of games kicked off with Kasımpaşa recording their second consecutive victory following a 1-0 win over Başakşehir in the mini-Istanbul derby. On-loan Chelsea defender Kenneth Omeruo had yet another impressive performance helping his side keep another clean sheet and rise to the top of the table. The 21-year-old made the highest number of tackles (4) and clearances (6) over the course of the 90 minutes.
Saturday saw newly promoted Kayserispor record back-to-back 1-1 draws following their home game against Konyaspor. Akhisar got their first win of the season after beating Mersin 2-0 at home. Mersin have now lost both their opening games and to make matters worse Özarslan was sent off.
The most highly anticipated game on Saturday was undoubtedly Beşiktaş v Trabzonspor. The Black Eagles blew Mersin away with a 5-2 win in their opening game but were unable to find a way past the Black Sea Storm. Yusuf Erdoğan gave the away side the league but Quaresma equalised with a goal that could easily make goal of the season but he went and ruined his hard work just minutes later after picking up a second yellow card for taking a free-kick before the referee blew his whistle – somethings never chance. Trabzonspor made the most of their man advantage and Erkan Zengin scored the winning goal late on to record their second win of the season.
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Sunday kicked off with the highest scoring game of the week as Eskişehirspor beat Sivasspor 4-2. The Süper Lig’s very own Greek hero Gekas put on quite a show scoring his third hat-trick in the league as Es Es swept the Yiğidolar aside.
Bursaspor suffered a surprise 1-0 home loss against Gaziantepspor. Green Crocodiles boss Ertuğrul Sağlam looks like he could be in for a rough ride this season after losing just about every key player from the last league campaign including Ozan Tufan, Fernandao, Enes Ünal, Volkan Şen and Şener Özbayraklı.
Meanwhile down in sunny Antalya, Samuel Eto’o was reliving his Barcelona days as he secured all three points with the third and final goal in Antalyaspor’s 3-1 win over Gençlerbirliği. The Scorpions have got off to their best ever start to a league campaign thanks in no small part to the former Chelsea man.
Dünya Yıldızı Samuel Eto’o’nun ilk iki haftada attığı goller… #turkish #football #legend pic.twitter.com/emUDV2EjoG
— Turkish Great Goals (@turkishgoals) August 25, 2015
Fenerbahçe fans will be delighted that summer signing Luis Nani setup fellow former Manchester United teammate Robin van Persie with the opening goal. Nani last provided an assist for Van Persie 598 days ago in the 1-0 win against Norwich City. The Dutch star has had quite a week. Van Persie scored with his first shot in the 1-0 win over Greek side Atromitos in the Europa League play-off round and then netted with his second shot in a Fenerbahçe jersey against Çaykur Rizespor. It was Kweuke however, who had the last chance as he equalised late on to hold the Yellow Canaries to a 1-1 draw.
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There was yet more drama on Monday as Osmanlispor (Ottoman-spor) – founded in the republican era – beat Galatasaray – founded in the Ottoman era – in a shock 2-1 victory over the reigning champions. Last week we said Osmanlispor would need to draw on the power of the Ottomans and all the other Turkish empires and states flags they parade around the stadium on match day to find a way past the Lions. Of course Ankara was as insignificant provincial town under the Ottomans and the location of a battle in 1402 that briefly ended the empire when Timurlane and the Turkish beyliks defeated Sultan Bayazit but that does not seem to bother the newly promoted side who remain undefeated in the league this season. Galatasaray boss Hamza Hamzaoğlu decided to give Jose Rodriguez a place in the starting line-up alongside Selçuk Inan and Burak Yılmaz returned the team. The Lions did dominate possession and looked in charge for much of the game but defending yet again proved the be their Achilles heel. The Istanbul giants are without a win in their opening two games, it is a little early to ring the alarm bells but should Galatasaray not win their next game Hamzaoğlu will be put under immense pressure.
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