ISTANBUL
GalatasarayThe dismal season of the Turkish Süper Lig reached a new low on January 23 when the Istanbul club lost 2-1 to leaders Trabzonspor at home.
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Galatasaray made a hopeful start to the match and took the lead in the 30th minute when Romanian midfielder Alexandru Cicaldau successfully converted a penalty.
However, Trabzonspor held on until the end, leveling the score with a goal from Greek midfielder Anastasios Bakasetas in the 84th minute, while Bosnian midfielder Edin Visca, who joined the Black Sea side from Başakşehir on 5 January , scored another goal. in injury time to give his team the 16th victory of the season.
The loss pushed Galatasaray further down the standings, with the team sitting in 15th place with 27 points from 23 games, just three points above the relegation zone.
The club is also in its worst situation after 23 games since the inauguration of the Turkish professional footballhighest category in 1959.
Galatasaray is on a four-game losing streak in the league and has lost all three games under coach Domenec Torrent, who replaced Fatih Terim earlier this month.
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However, the Spaniard was happy with the performance of his players despite the loss and was hopeful that things would improve.
"We can say that football was not fair to us today," he said after the match.
“I have nothing bad to say to the players. We had the opportunity to score many times, we defended very well, but the result was not what we wanted. We clearly showed that we were playing to win the game."
Torrent said that they should focus on the positives.
"We can't focus on negative things like we can be relegated," he said.
“We have to start earning points right away, we have to keep it up. I have a good feeling for today and I think we are on the right track”.
Trabzonspor manager Abdullah Avcı, on the other hand, is happy with his team's current position, with the club holding a nine-point lead over closest rivals Konyaspor.
But the experienced trainer is also somewhat concerned about complacency.
"Today we took another big step towards a happy ending, but we haven't won anything yet," he said.
“There are 15 more weeks to go until the end of the league. Trabzonspor will be on the pitch to win, to do better regardless of the point difference."
Meanwhile, Konyaspor, who won 1-0 in Altay on January 23, have a chance to reduce the gap to Trabzonspor to six with one game remaining.
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Elsewhere in week 23 matches, Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe drew 1-1 in away games against Sivasspor and Malatyaspor, respectively.
Adana Demirspor won 5-0 at home over Karagümrük and Göztepe won 2-1 in Başakşehir on January 2. 22
in January The match on February 23, Hatayspor and Rizespor drew goalless, Kasımpaşa won 3-1 Kayserispor, Alanyaspor beat Giresunspor 3-12 in an away match, and there were no goals in the Antalyaspor vs Gaziantep clash.
