Fenerbahçe extend lead with derby win

Two goals from Alex helped champions Fenerbahçe SK take another step towards retaining the Turkish Süper Lig title with a 2-1 derby win at Istanbul rivals Beşiktaş JK.

Alex delight
The visitors were quickly into their stride at the İnönü Stadium with Kazım Kazım particularly influential and it was his cross that the Brazil playmaker headed in to give Fenerbahçe an eleventh-minute lead. Beşiktaş gradually worked their way back into the match but had to wait until the 74th minute to equalise as Serdar Özkan volleyed in Ali Tandoğan's pass. The hosts' joy was short-lived, however, as Alex restored Fenerbahçe's advantage six minutes later with a powerful shot that went in off the crossbar. The victory moved Zico's men three points clear at the summit ahead of Galatasaray AS's meeting with Gaziantepspor on Sunday. Beşiktaş stay fourth on 58 point, five behind the leaders.

Chelsea challenge
"I hope this level of performance continues as we have big games coming up against Galatasaray and Trabzonspor," said Zico. "The team who make the fewest mistakes will win the title. The way Kazım picked out Alex was something we'd worked on in training. Kazım did the right thing and proved he deserves a starting place." Zico, who became a grandfather on 25 March and whose side face Chelsea FC in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, added: "I brought in [Claudio] Maldonado for Selçuk [Şahin] because Selçuk hasn't been playing well lately. The players should get used to changes like this, because if one player loses form, another will take his place. My grandson brought us luck and we won the derby. I hope that luck continues against Chelsea."