Besiktas Win The Super Lig Title On Goal Difference In A Crazy End To The Season
Wed, Jun 02.21
Pyro is cool, sure, but pyro being waved by an old guy out the front of the stadium of the club he supports so deeply is cooler. In fact, it’s one of our favourite images we’ve seen this season.
Why is he losing it with his fellow Besiktas supporters outside Vodafone Park? Because the Kara Kartallar (Black Eagles) won the league and cup double this season in painfully close fashion.
The final day 2-1 away win to Goztepe clinched the Istanbul giant’s 16th title and the even better fact for Besiktas and more gut wrenching one for Galatasaray was the fact it was only down to goal difference. 1 single goal. Talk about tense…
The win on the final day secured 84 points in total for Besiktas, level with Gala who also won their final matchday fixture 3-1 against Yeni Malatyaspor. That wasn't enough for them though.
It didn’t look good for Besiktas a few weeks before seasons end. The club, desperate to add another league title to their cabinet for the first time since the 16/17 season, were feeling the pressure at the top and lost the two games prior to the final matchday. Nerves no doubt got the better of the team after a stellar run through April and early May got them into the position they wanted to be in.
The first set back came against rivals Galatasaray who beat them 3-1, spurring Gala on to a 6 straight game win record to finish the season.
Besiktas then, unbelievably, lost at home to Fatih Karagumruk which looked like the wheels had well and truly fallen off and was going to shatter the club and it’s supporters - struggling to deal with the implosion while also navigating yet another spike in coronavirus cases.
Luckily for the fans, and somewhat a good explanation as to why they have gone so crazy since, Besiktas pulled it together at the death and held on and won that final matchday fixture which ended up being enough.
Coach Sergen Yalcin, a former star player at the club, has been a mighty figure at the club since returning in 2020. He currently has a 65% win record at the club, showing just how surprising that final hiccup was. Who cares though right? They did enough in the end.
To make such a dramatic end to the season even sweeter – Beskitas took the chance to win a domestic double in the Turkish Cup Final, beating Antalyaspor 2-0 to end a memorable season in more ways than one.
Turkish football never fails to deliver drama. We can't wait for next season already.
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