Galatasaray win 20th Turkish title as seven-man Fenerbahce draw
Galatasaray were crowned champions of Turkey's top flight for a record 20th time on Monday, after perennial Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce had four men sent off in a 2-2 draw at Basaksehir. With one round of games remaining, Fenerbahce needed nothing less than a win against Basaksehir, a fast-growing Istanbul side run by the municipality, to keep any Super Lig title hopes alive. But two goals from Mehmet Batdal within ten minutes in the second half were hammer blows to Fenerbahce's lingering hopes. Diego of Brazil struck back for Fenerbahce after 80 minutes and Pierre Webo of Cameroon added another on 88 minutes, leading to frantic closing minutes as Fenerbahce looked for a winner. With tempers fraying, four Fenerbahce players were sent off in the last 10 minutes -- Mehmet Topuz, Bruno Alves of Portugal, Caner Erkin and Webo -- leaving the visitors with just seven players on the field. The result leaves Galatasaray with an unassailable five-point lead at the top of the table and also earning Turkey's automatic Champions League spot for next season. Fenerbahce will finish second and the third great team of Istanbul, Besiktas, in third place irrespective of the results in next Sunday's matches. Galatasaray's victory means the team has now won a record 20 titles, one more than last year's champions Fenerbahce on 19. Under Turkish tradition, Galatasaray will now be the first in Turkish football history to wear four stars on their shirts. A Turkish team is awarded a star for every five championship victories. In customary fashion, Galatasaray fans celebrated the victory by letting off fireworks, setting fire to torches and hooting their car horns in Istanbul from the moment the final whistle was sounded. - 'We know how we played' - The victory is also a personal triumph for Galatasaray's coach Hamza Hamzaoglu, who was only appointed to the job in late November after the club made a woeful start to the season under Italian Cesare Prandelli. In recognition of the achievement, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a congratulatory telegram to the club, the presidency announced. But the loss is a bitter blow to Fenerbahce and in particular its ex-Liverpool Dutch star Dirk Kuyt in his final season at the club before heading back to the Netherlands. Fenerbahce manager Ismail Kartal was downcast, declining to answer questions and giving only a brief and enigmatic statement. "All of us know -- the managers and the footballers -- how we played this season," he said. "I leave to the conscience of everyone how we have played," he added. Galatasaray had moved close to the title on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Besiktas, which was crowned by a brilliant strike from Dutchman Wesley Sneijder, its outstanding player in the last matches. That win was also the final blow for Besiktas' Croatian coach Slaven Bilic, who confirmed he would leave the club and has been persistently linked with a move to English Premiership side West Ham. Galatasaray meanwhile will be hoping for to improve their performance in Europe in 2015/2016 after a dire showing in the Champions League this season where they amassed a solitary point in Group D.
