Galatasaray, with Yuto Nagatomo playing the full match, scored two injury time goals for a thrilling 3 – 2 comeback win over Rizespor, and opened a 3-point lead at the top of the Super Lig.

Fresh from their 2 – 0 win over Besiktas in the Istanbul derby, Galatasaray opened the scoring through Sofiane Feghouli. The defending league champion could have doubled the lead when they were given a penalty in the 38th minute, but Mbaye Diagne struck the post. Nagatomo reacted to put the loose ball into the net, only to be ruled out by the referee. Vedat Muriqi leveled the score for Rizespor right before half time.

In the 73rd minute, Rizespor were reduced to 10 men when Braian Samudio was shown a straight red. Despite the numerical advantage, Galatasaray fell to another goal as the home side took the lead in the 76th minute.

Just as it looked like Galatasaray’s title push would be dealt a major blow, they were gifted a lifeline when the referee pointed to the spot yet again in injury time. Diagne redeemed himself by converting the spot kick. At 2 – 2, Galatasaray pushed on for another goal and it duly arrived in the 97th minute when villain-turned-hero Diagne headed in the dramatic match winner.

With two matches remaining, Galatasaray hold a 3-point lead over second place Istanbul Basaksehir, who have a game in hand. The two clash on 19 May, in a match that could be the title decider.

Rizespor 2 – 3 Galatasaray

(Vedat Muriqi 45′, Aminu Umar 76′ – Sofiane Feghouli 9′, Mbaye Diagne (P) 90’+2, 90’+7)

P Team M W D L P 1 Galatasaray 32 19 9 4 66 2 Istanbul Basaksehir 31 18 9 4 63 3 Besiktas 31 17 8 6 59 4 Trabzonspor 31 16 8 7 56 5 Yeni Malatyaspor 31 12 8 11 44 6 Alanyaspor 31 12 6 13 42 7 Antalyaspor 32 12 6 14 42 8 Konyaspor 31 9 14 8 41 9 Rizespor 32 9 13 10 40 10 Kasimpasa 31 11 5 15 38 11 Sivasspor 31 9 10 12 37 12 Fenerbahce 31 8 13 10 37 13 Kayserispor 31 9 10 12 37 14 Ankaragucu 31 10 7 14 37 15 Goztepe 31 10 3 18 33 16 Bursaspor 32 6 15 11 33 17 Erzurum BB 31 7 11 13 32 18 Akhisar Belediyespor 31 6 7 18 25

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Source: Yahoo

Images: gettyimages