Turkish Super Lig Wrap: Fenerbahce secure 19th title with draw

Fenerbahce picked up the point they needed to secure their 19th league title with a 0-0 draw against Rizespor on Sunday.

Ersun Yanal’s side started the day 12 points ahead of the then-second-placed Besiktas and knew that a draw would be enough regardless of what their rivals did.

And their goalless stalemate in Istanbul was enough to give them their first title since the 2010-11 season.

Their triumph was witnessed by only women and children inside the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, as men were banned for previous crowd trouble.

But it did not dampen the mood as the title was wrestled back after finishing second to arch-rivals Galatasaray for the last two seasons.

As it turned out, the point was not necessary as Besiktas lost 3-0 at Sivasspor, who remain level on points with Trabzonspor in the race for fourth.

Slaven Bilic’s side needed to win to have any chance of keeping the title race alive, but were blown away by second-half goals from John Utaka and Aatif Chahechouhe, either side of a Tolga Zengin own goal, giving Sivasspor – managed by Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos – their third win in succession.

That defeat allowed Galatasaray to move back into second with a 1-0 win at Elazigspor courtesy of Burak Yilmaz’s 14th of the season.

Austrian defender Tanju Kayhan was sent off for a second booking with 20 minutes to go as the home side dropped into the bottom three.

Kayseri Erciyesspor made the most of that slip by winning 1-0 at Eskisehirspor to climb two points clear of the drop zone. Edinho’s 32nd-minute strike proved to be the difference.

A brace from Paulo Henrique ensured Trabzonspor remained in fourth after their 2-1 win over Gaziantepspor, while Kasimpasa are lurking two points further back following a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Antalyaspor thanks to goals from Ryan Babel and Ezequiel Scarione.

Kayserispor are all but down – seven points from safety with nine left to play for – after a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Karabukspor, but Konyaspor eased their own relegation worries as Theofanis Gekas scored a hat-trick in the 4-0 rout of Akhisar Belediyespor, who had defender Cagdas Atan sent off midway through the first half for a second booking in the space of three minutes.

In the round’s other game, 10-man Bursaspor went down 1-0 at Genclerbirligi, having Samil Cinaz sent off in injury-time.