Galatasaray tightened its grip on the Süper Lig title with a statement 2-0 win at Trabzonspor on Saturday, extending its unbeaten run against the Black Sea side to six matches and moving within a single point of clinching its 25th championship.
After a tense, scoreless first half in front of a lively Trabzon crowd, the Lions roared in the second.
Defender Abdülkerim Bardakcı broke the deadlock with a towering header in the 66th minute, while Alvaro Morata sealed the victory in the 84th, coolly slotting in his sixth goal since arriving in January.
Galatasaray’s latest triumph pushed their season tally to 27 wins and 86 points, maintaining an eight-point cushion over archrival Fenerbahçe with three games to play.
A single draw from remaining fixtures against Kayserispor (A), Göztepe (H), or Başakşehir (A) would hand Galatasaray the title regardless of Fenerbahçe’s results.
Should they get that lone point, Galatasaray would not only lift the league trophy for the 25th time but also become the first Turkish club to earn the right to wear five stars on its jersey – each star representing five championships.
And if the title race wasn't hot enough, there's more drama just days away. Galatasaray and Trabzonspor will meet again on May 14 in the Turkish Cup final in Gaziantep. With one hand already on the league crown, Galatasaray is eyeing a domestic double.
The numbers tell the story of dominance. Since their last loss to Trabzonspor in January 2022, Galatasaray has gone unbeaten in six meetings – five wins and a draw. In Trabzon, their streak stretches even further: six straight trips without a defeat since 2018.
The current run is red-hot. Galatasaray has now won seven straight in all competitions since a 1-0 derby defeat to Beşiktaş in late March. Along the way, they've dispatched Samsunspor, Bodrum FK, Eyüpspor, Sivasspor, and now Trabzonspor in the league, while knocking out Fenerbahçe and Konyaspor in the cup. That’s 22 goals scored and only four conceded.
Abdülkerim Bardakcı’s goal in Trabzon marked his fifth across all competitions this season, three of which have come in the league. Morata, on the other hand, has scored five in the Süper Lig and one in the cup in just 13 appearances.
Should Galatasaray cross the finish line, they’ll add another historic chapter to their golden legacy – and wear their fifth star with pride.
