Turkish heavyweight Fenerbahçe fought back from one goal down to beat second-placed Konyaspor in a captivating Süper Lig battle on Sunday.
Visiting Konyaspor’s Kosovan winger Zymer Bytyqi opened the scoresheet, when he struck from close range in the 35th minute, following a rebound off Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Altay Bayındır.
Fenerbahçe players argued with the referee that Bytyqi had fouled the goalie before his finishing touch, but the goal stood.
Konyaspor led the first half at Istanbul’s Ülker Stadium.
In the 66th minute though, Fenerbahçe’s South Korean defender Kim Min-jae scored from an easy chance to level the match.
Fenerbahçe midfielder Irfan Can Kahveci whipped a free kick as Konyaspor goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic jumped to parry it. However, the ball hit the bar and was on the loose when Kim was in the right place to score in an open goal.
In the 88th minute, Fenerbahçe completed the 2-1 comeback.
The host side’s Greek midfielder Dimitris Pelkas then scored the winning goal for Fenerbahçe from the edge of the box with a classy finish.
Fenerbahçe boosted its points to 53 in 30 matches to be in the third position in the league table.
It narrowed the gap against second-place Konyaspor, who has 55 points.
Trabzonspor is getting closer to winning the 2022 Süper Lig title.
The Black Sea club has so far collected 70 points in the 2021-22 Süper Lig season that will end in eight weeks.
Gaziantep stuns Lions
Galatasaray, which was recently eliminated by Barcelona from the UEFA Europa League, was stunned by Gaziantep FK 3-1 earlier Sunday.
In the 34th minute, Galatasaray’s French forward Bafetimbi Gomis scored the opening goal at Gaziantep’s Kalyon Stadium.
But the Istanbul team was unable to secure the 1-0 lead as Senegalese defender Papy Djilobodji scored the equalizer near the end of the first half.
Gaziantep FK was awarded a penalty in the second half when Berkan Kutlu fouled Joao Figueiredo in the area.
In minute 71, Romanian midfielder Alexandru Maxim scored from the penalty spot as Gaziantep staged a comeback.
Figueiredo scored the third goal for Gaziantep in the 81st minute after Maxim’s solo effort in the area.
In the second half, Gomis missed a couple of chances. So Galatasaray returned home with a 3-1 loss.
Gaziantep is currently in the 12th spot with 40 points.
Meanwhile, Galatasaray, who is having a terrible season in the domestic league, bagged 38 points in 30 matches to rank 15th.
After the next week’s international break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the Turkish Süper Lig will continue to be played on April 2.
