Beşiktaş beats Galatasaray to tighten grip on league title

Aside from the opening few minutes, during which the Eagles had a couple of clear-cut chances, the home side looked more threatening in the first half, but its attempts to break the deadlock were nullified by a solid Beşiktaş defense, with the first half ending goalless. 

Beşiktaş came out swinging harder in the second half and went ahead at 76 minutes through the open-net finish of Mario Gomez, who strengthened his lead on the list of top scorers. 

It was his 25th league goal of the season. 

Beşiktaş then tightened up on the backend and played out the remaining minutes to run out 1-0 victors.
Beşiktaş leads the standings with 76 points. 

“I was shocked by our game in the first half. We played like a small team,” Gomez said after the game, praising their rivals for “running like crazy.” 

“We changed all our mistakes in the second half and began attacking,” he said. 

Beşiktaş coach Şenol Güneş also admitted that Galatasaray was a tough rival. 

“We have come to our current position by playing good against all teams. Today’s match was such a game and we got a win that we deserved,” he said. 

Galatasaray coach Jan Olde Riekerink said his team was dominant during the game but regretted it failed to react to the Beşiktaş goal. 

Commenting on a spectator entering the pitch while Beşiktaş was scoring, the Dutchman said this was the first time he had experienced such a thing. 

“I lost my concentration and was looking at the person who entered the pitch. I could not see the goal,” he said.