Eagles land on top of the league

The Turkish Super League saw a leadership shift this week after Beşiktaş narrowly beat Çaykur Rizespor 2-1 in the Turkish Spor Toto Super League matchday 19 game on Sunday in Rize. Beşiktaş midfielder Jose Sosa broke the deadlock in the 59th minute with the 29-year-old Argentine scoring with a low shot from close range after a one-two with Senegalese striker Demba Ba.

After the goal, Çaykur Rizespor midfielder Kıvanç Karakaş was sent off after arguing with the referee. In the 62nd minute, Çaykur Rizespor equalized with Sercan Kaya scoring a header at the far post, taking advantage of Beşiktaş goalkeeper Tolga Zengin's mistimed effort. Çaykur Rizespor right back Koray Altınay was shown a red card in the 65th minute after he made a harsh tackle on Beşiktaş left back Ramon Motta, leaving his team with nine men.

In the 86th minute, visitors Beşiktaş were awarded a penalty when Ludovic Obraniak handballed in the area. Ba converted the penalty successfully to make the score 2-1. This goal sealed the win for Beşiktaş. Thanks to the victory, Beşiktaş climbed to the leading position in the league table with the Black Eagles raising their points tally to 44.

Beşiktaş manager Slaven Bilic revealed that he was delighted that his side are back at the top of the table. "After a poor first half, I told the lads to pull themselves together or else, and they got the message," Bilic told the official Beşiktaş website.

"We picked up a valuable win and the three points tonight. It is nice to be back atop the Super League table once again."

Beşiktaş were criticized for their performance but the win was the Eagles' sixth consecutive away win.

The Turkish giants have the best away record in the league. Beşiktaş have won 10 out of the 11 games they have played on the road this season.

Meanwhile, ex-Chelsea striker Ba broke a personal record following his 20th goal. Ba scored the winning goal from the penalty spot to record his 20th goal in 26 appearances for the Black Eagles in all competitions. The Senegalese international now has 11 Super League goals, with only Trabzonspor striker Oscar Cardozo and Bursaspor forward Fernandao having hit the back of the net more often, 12 and 13 times, respectively.

The powerful striker scored 19 goals in the 2012-13 season when he played for both Newcastle and Chelsea. Ba has been in prolific form since joining in a 5.2 million pound move from Chelsea in the summer. Beşiktaş have a tough match against fourth place side Bursaspor next week at the Atatürk Olympic stadium.

At the same time, Beşiktaş have had their best opening 19 games of a season in 11 yeats. Bilic's side has managed to collect 44 points in 19 weeks. In 2003-04 season, then manager Mircea Lucescu's team had managed to get 14 wins and four draws, collecting 46 points, in the first 19 weeks.

Separately a Turkish imam who is a fan of Fenerbahçe welcomed Demba Ba's invitation for the Beşiktaş fans to perform morning prayer if they win the title. Sultanahmet Mosque imam İshak Kızılaslan said, "Ba's invitation is very meaningful. I'm for Fenerbahçe but my son likes Beşiktaş and likes Demba Ba very much. Our mosque is always open to Beşiktaş fans. Some 70,000 people performed Bayram prayer here."