Medİpol Başakşehir continued its dominance over Super League minnows as it thrashed Kardemir Karabükspor 5-0 Monday. All of Başakşehir's five goals came in the first half, with Stefano Napoleoni, Gökhan İnler, and Emmanuel Adebayor each scoring one while Edin Visca hitting a brace. The last time a team went 5-0 up in the first half of a Super League match was back in 2009 when Fenerbahçe comprehensively defeated Hacettepespor. Başakşehir stayed top in the league with the comfortable victory against bottom dweller Karabükspor. The Istanbul club now has 42 points, one more than second-placed Galatasaray.
Following the match, Başakşehir coach Abdullah Avcı said: "No match is big or small. What's important is to get three points and play good football. My players took the rival seriously and it was evident on the pitch. We are maintaining our leadership in the league. We are evaluating every match week by week."
Replying to Fenerbahçe coach Aykut Kocaman's comments on Başakşehir being their biggest rival in the title race, Avcı said, "I want to thank Kocaman for his analysis. But he means probably our squads's similar playing styles as he said considered us only rival. We are also competing for the title against other teams like Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, and even Trabzonspor."
Over the weekend, Beşiktaş defeated Kasımpaşa 2-1 thanks to a brace from their in-form Anderson Talisca. The Black Eagles continue to be fourth with 36 points.
Galatasaray, on Saturday, defeated Osmanlıspor 2-0 at home to take its tally to 41 points.
The other title contender, Fenerbahçe traveled to Trabzon on Sunday. The teams shared the spoils after the match ended in a 1-1 stalemate. Fenerbahçe is currently third with 37 points.
As for the other half of the points table, seven teams are hovering around the drop zone at the end of game week 19. Kardemir Karabükspor is anchored to the bottom with just nine points. Atiker Konyaspor, placed 17th, has just 16 points but is trailing 11th placed Kasımpaşaspor by just six points. Konyaspor, the Ziraat Turkish Cup holders, has lost the last four matches. Meanwhile, 16th placed Antalyaspor has only won four matches in 19 weeks despite having star footballers like Samuel Eto'o in the squad.