Week 18 - Analysis by Serbülent Şengün
 "The ref was watching closely" from Beşiktaş - Bursaspor game
Due to heavy snowing around the country the final week of the season before the winter break caused 3 games to be postponed, leaving the week with only 6 games played.
The regular fixtures, started off on Saturday with Adanaspor hosting İstanbulspor. On the 6 games of the week 22 goals were scored which were distributed evenly with 11 goals by the home sides and 11 by the visitors. 1 game was tied, 3 were won by the home sides and 2 were won by the visitors.
Games :
Adanaspor – İstanbulspor: Adanaspor just can’t break the losing streak. On a game that could have been the struggle of more or less equal teams, İstanbulspor pretty much rushed in to the game with scoring two goals in the first 14 minutes. Only after that did the home side woke up. But nevertheless it was too late. Adanaspor management kicked out leading goalscorer Necati and leading assister Pachola at the beginning of the week, and the lack of the two most prominent figures of the team showed itself. During the second half Adanaspor tried to hold on but the smart counterattacking football of İstanbulspor lead way to yet another goal. A historic goal by Andre Kona as he managed to be the second foreign based player to reach 100 goals in the Turkish League. (0-3)
Beşiktaş – Bursaspor : Beşiktaş’s impressive run continues. Again they were very dominative, almost, throughout the game. Bursaspor however responded very well at the defensive end, going for the single point. The struggle continued till Beşiktaş defensive stronghold Ronaldo could finally untie the knot at the 56th minute. Bursaspor had to attack after that, but their lack of finishing left them pointless on the home ground of the leaders. Beşiktaş has still not lost a game this season, and that is, on any ground.(1-0)
Altay – Diyarbakırspor : A beautiful, beautiful game indeed, with all the tragedy that football can encounter. Diyarbakırspor continued their good football that they had the past few weeks, and managed to score the first goal, Altay tied the game early in the second half, the it was all Diyarbakırspor again, they took the lead once again, and then wasted a basketful of chances. In the last minute Diyarbakırspor wasted one unbelievable chance as captain Deniz missed the chance to score infront of the empty net, that ball turned around in about 45-50 seconds led way to the Altay equaliser. Real tragedy for the visitors. (2-2)
Gençlerbirliği – Kocaelispor : Absolutely unstoppable. I can only hope that the winter break does not cool off the momentum that Gençlerbirliği has gained the past two months. They step up on the field with the most predator instincts. They just can’t get enough goals, with every single player on the pitch looking to score. Kocaelispor's coach Güvenç Kurtar in his after match press briefing acknowledged that at half time he told his players to try hard to not concede any more goals, and that, that was all he could do. That is absolutely the summary of the kind of damage Gençlerbirliği does to other teams. (5-1)
Samsunspor – Galatasaray : Samsunspor is not getting any better, and on the contrary Galatasaray got back their fighter character back. On a game that was totally dominated by Galatasaray, the visitors did more than enough to score, yet they could only manage a single goal. Even after the goal the home side could not push forward. Overall a well deserved win for the runners up of the league. (0-1)
Fenerbahçe - Trabzonspor: Another great game of football. The visitors stepped up rushing for the lead with great controlling football the first 15 minutes. After they managed to get the lead Fenerbahçe woke up, interestingly they managed to equalise on the first serious goal attempt. Then it was real show time for football fans. Great effort and football by both teams and tons of wasted chances while Fenerbahçe managed to get the lead. The second half the good football continued, Trabzonspor managed to get the equaliser but minutes later Tuncay the youngster finished his hat trick to score the goal to seal the game. Great effort by both teams. (3-2)
Denizli - Gaziantepspor : Postponed due to heavy snow
Elazığspor - Göztepe: Postponed due to heavy snow
Malatyaspor - Ankaragücü: Postponed due to heavy snow
Goals of the week :
1. Kona (İstanbulspor) : This was not a spectacular goal or an aestheticly finished goal but it was one of symbolic importance. After missing some very good chances, the striker finally made the necessary touch to mark his 100th of the league.
2. Ayhan (Galatasaray) : Scoring his teams only goal of the match Ayhan made swift body moves to leave two defenders helpless and then finished superbly. Kind of reminded me of his youngster years when he used to score like this every other week.
3. Ramazan (Diyarbakırspor) : An aesthetic volley to a nice cross from Deniz, Ramazan showed the necessary quality to finish superbly.
Team of the week :  Gençlerbirliği SK Ankara
They keep on doing it, and there is not much to talk, at least not any more. They play very pleasing football, they use wings, they use long balls, they use high balls, low balls, everything and everything to score, and they score. Beautiful team to watch.
Player of the week : Tuncay (Fenerbahçe)
Right now he is the kid to watch in Turkish football. Just 20 years of age, but acts as if he has the experience of a 30 year old. He never gives up fighting for the ball, he is there to score and he is there to defend. I can only hope that with all the media attention he is getting at this young age, he does not get spoiled. Hopefully more to come from him in the coming years.
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2002-2003 1.Süper Lig