Gala leave it late, Samsunspor rise

Turkish Super Lig leaders Galatasaray needed a late equaliser from Felipe Melo to avoid only a fourth defeat of the season as they salvaged a 1-1 draw at home against third-placed Trabzonspor. Gala, after being knocked out of the Turkish cup quarter-finals in midweek, looked set for more disappointment as they went behind in the 24th minute to a Burak Yilmaz goal. However, with only eight minutes left on the clock, they drew level through Melo's penalty to extend their unbeaten run to nine league matches and leave them seven points ahead of second-placed Fenerbahce. At the other end of the table, Samsunspor moved out of the bottom two with a 2-0 home win over nine-man Mersin Idmanyurdu, Ekigho Ehiosun's brace in the 18th and 67th minute ensuring his side took full advantage of the red cards shown to Marcio Nobre and Ibrahim Kas. Replacing Samsunspor in 17th spot are Manisaspor, who lost 3-1 at home to fifth-placed Sivasspor. Kadir Bekmezci put the visitors ahead early on and, although Manisaspor were level by the break thanks to Ferhat Cokmus, Sivasspor took the spoils through goals in the final 19 minutes from Erman Kilic and Ricardo Pedriel. Still propping up the standings are already-relegated Ankaragucu, who suffered their 13th successive league defeat after losing 3-0 at home to fourth-bottom Antalyaspor, for whom Mehmet Boyraz, Kerem Seras and Tita were all on target. Gaziantepspor beat Eskisehirspor 2-0 in a match which saw both teams reduced to ten men. Marek Sapara and Serdar Kurtulus scored the goals for Gaziantepspor, who lost Yasin Pehlivan to a 75th-minute red card, 13 minutes after Koray Arslan had been dismissed for the hosts. Elsewhere, a 38th-minute Larrys Mabiala goal earned Karabukspor a 1-0 home win over Kayserispor, while Orduspor and Genclerbirligi shared a goalless draw.