The Fenerbahce players went into this match knowing that only a win would do to stand any chance of winning the league.  However, the way this game started and continued throughout the first half anyone watching would have been excused into thinking it was Trabzonspor who were chasing the championship.  Either that or like the article picture suggests they are still seeking revenge on Fenerbahce pipping them to the title 12 years ago! 

The Yellow Canaries could not get any momentum going and the only real surprise was that it took the Black Sea Hurricane half an hour to take the lead.  A Fenerbahce free-kick in Trabzonspor's half was cleared to Ayman who found Ibrahima Yattara insode his own half.  The Guinean ran a full 60 yards unchallenged before unleashing a shot past Serdar for 1-0. 

If that wasn’t hard enough to swallow news from Ali Sami Yen minutes later sunk the already lowered morale to an all time low as Hakan Sukur gave Galatasaray the lead.  Even the most optimistic Fenerbahce fans started giving up hope and by half time the title race was all but over. At Avni Aker Umut Bulut turned in a cross to double Trabzonspor’s lead and almost simultaneously Hakan Balta volleyed a 20 yard screamer into the top corner.  It was 2-0 in both games but not the way Fenerbahce fans wanted it to be. 

In the second half the Yellow and Navy side picked up a gear and also had THREE goals ruled out for offside, but it mattered very little to them as they would have finished in second place regardless. 

The team who lost out, however, was Sivasspor because at the end of the day’s results 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams all finished on 73 points.  In this situation the three way head-to-head aggregate scores came into the equation for final league positioning. 

As Fenerbahce had a better head-to-head against Sivas and Besiktas they automatically finished second.  However, Besiktas did better against Fenerbahce on aggregate so they slipped into third meaning Sivasspor finished fourth. The final league standings mean Galatsaray and Fenerbahce will play in the Champions League, Besiktas and cup winners Kayserispor in the UEFA cup and Sivasspor will look to earn a UEFA place through the Inter TOTO cup. 

At anglofeb.com we would like to congratulate Galatasaray fans for their title win and send our plaudits to Sivasspor for an exceptional season.  Well done to Kayserispor for winning the Fortis Turkey Cup and Besiktas for their UEFA cup qualification.  Let’s hope for a successful European campaign for all Turkish clubs next season.