Galatasaray beat Kocaelispor 1-0 in the fifth round of the Turkish Süper Lig. The sides starting the day second and third met at Rams Park. The win lifts the Turkish record champions above Besiktas, who had already won 3-0 on Friday, and sends Galatasaray to the top of the table.
Galatasaray have ten points from four league matches. The Istanbul club opened with a 2-2 draw against Corum FK. They then won three straight against Buyuksehir (0-4), Göztepe Izmir (3-2) and Basaksehir (2-3).
On Tuesday, Gala were still in Champions League action against Sporting CP. They lost that game in Portugal 3-1, leaving Okan Buruk's side to return to Turkey with a bitter aftertaste.
Inside 12 minutes, Galatasaray thought they had gone ahead. Lucas Torreira let fly from distance. Serhat Oztasdelen saved it but spilled the ball. Rafael Leão reacted first and clipped it against the crossbar. Defenders Matej Maglica and Tanguy Zoukrou then failed to clear, before Deniz Gül headed over the line.
The scrappy goal was eventually ruled out because the referee deemed there had been a foul on goalkeeper Oztasdelen. That left Buruk furious, especially after watching his side dominate possession in the first half and still fail to score despite creating big chances.
Then came the breakthrough in the 70th minute. Abdülkerim Bardakci thundered home from distance. The centre-back beat Oztasdelen from 30 metres, although the goalkeeper did not look entirely convincing as it flew in for 1-0.
From there, Galatasaray stayed in complete control, keeping the ball and dictating the game. But neither side found another goal, which meant Aslanlar claimed their fourth league victory of the season and took top spot from Besiktas.