Amedspor atop Süper Lig standings at break
DİYARBAKIR
Amedspor wrote a new chapter in Turkish football history on Sept. 20 night, defeating Beşiktaş 3-2 at home to claim the Süper Lig summit heading into the three-week international break.
The hard-fought victory lifted the newly promoted club to 13 points, making it the first team in league history to sit atop the standings after six matches in its debut top-flight season.
“We started the league well and picked up wins. Starting strong is very important if you want to have a good season,” said Amed assistant coach Stef Wils, who attended the post-match press conference after coach Besnik Hasi was sent off.
“I think we’ve done a good job, but as I said, it’s only been six matches,” Wils added.
“There are still a lot of games ahead of us, and we need to keep working this way.”
Amedspor went into half-time in firm control, thanks to goals from Gift Orban in the 13th minute and Dia Saba nine minutes later.
Beşiktaş responded after the break when star forward Dušan Vlahovic found the back of the net in the 55th minute. However, Amedspor quickly reclaimed their two-goal cushion just four minutes later through Furkan Soyalp.
Orkun Kökçü’s penalty score in stoppage time settled the score.
The result leaves Beşiktaş stranded at 12 points, while Amed enters the international break riding an unprecedented wave of momentum at the head of the Süper Lig table.
Elsewhere, Fenerbahçe lifted the gloom over the club, routing Eyüpspor 8-0 at home to secure the largest margin of victory in the club’s Süper Lig history.
Vedat Muriqi put on a dazzling display, netting four goals to spearhead the rout, while Mason Greenwood added a brace as Fenerbahçe overwhelmed its opponent.
Matteo Guendouzi and İrfan Can Kahveci added one each.
The milestone victory gave Fenerbahçe a massive morale boost after a string of poor results increased the pressure on coach İsmail Kartal and the club administration.
Kartal addressed the team’s recent struggles and pushed back against outside criticism.
“We hadn’t been able to get the points we wanted in recent matches,” he told a post-match press conference.
“We wanted to fix this, win with a good performance, and make it up to our fans. I congratulate my players for winning by a large margin with a great performance today. We dedicate this victory to our fans. We want to continue on our path by improving our game.”
The emphatic win helped clear the air following a rough patch of results, but Kartal acknowledged the intense scrutiny that comes with managing a major club.
“At the slightest negative result, many labels like ‘The coach is at fault, the coach is out of form’ are thrown around,” Kartal said. “We are used to these. We chose our profession knowing this. We have to weather these. We will plug our ears as much as possible to the outside and focus solely on our work.”