Beşiktaş whip Göztepe 5-1 in Super Lig

Turkish Spor Toto Super Lig title contenders Beşiktaş trounced underdogs Göztepe 5-1 Saturday evening in a home match at Vodafone Park.

Beşiktaş bagged three points even though several team regulars weren't on the pitch.

Beşiktaş' Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma, Turkish midfielder Oğuzhan Özyakup and Canadian midfielder Atiba Hutchinson missed the match as they were suspended.

In addition, Turkish right back Gökhan Gönül was among the substitutes as he missed his team's training sessions on weekdays due to an injury.

Scorers for Beşiktaş included Brazilian attacking midfielder Anderson Talisca, Chilean midfielder Gary Medel, Serbian central defender Dusko Tosic, Canadian striker Cyle Larin and Dutch forward Ryan Babel.

Visiting team Göztepe's single goal was scored by Turkish midfielder Halil Akbunar.

The victory against Göztepe allowed the Black Eagles to remain in the Super Lig title race with 56 points, trailing İstanbul club Medipol Başakşehir, with 59 points.

On Friday evening, Medipol Başakşehir beat Yeni Malatya 1-0, retaking the top spot.

Fans at İstanbul's Fatih Terim Stadium witnessed only one goal, which came in the 18th minute of the first half when Dutch winger Eljero Elia easily completed his teammate Edin Visca's pass inside the six-yard box.

Galatasaray will try to recapture the lead when they face Gençlerbirliği on Monday in the capital Ankara.