Fenerbahce Crushes Kayseri Erciyesspor 6-0

Fenerbahce opened the Turkcell Super Lig centennial campaign with a resounding 6-0 thrashing of Kayseri Erciyesspor on Saturday. The Yellow Canaries used goals by Alex de Sousa (3), Tuncay Sanli, Tumer Metin, and Murat Hacioglu to overwhelm the Kayseri side. Rustu Recber was phenomenal in goal in keeping a clean sheet for the Fenerbahce opener. Defender Stephen Appiah was given a red card at the 32 minute for head-butting an opponent. After the match, Appiah stated that the opponent was using "derogatory and racist" language toward him throughout the match.

New manager Zico commented “It was a great game for us. We dominated throughout, except for a momentary lapse in focus when Appiah was sent off, but my players got back in the game pretty quickly after that. We scored some beautiful goals, while our defenders worked well together to make up for Appiah's absence.” Zico also had high praise for reserve Mehmet Yozgatli: “Mehmet went all out for his team and showed everyone his extraordinarily strong team spirit. He set an example for the rest of the team." Yozgatli has played magnificently off the bench for Fener.

In three games under the management of Zico, Fenerbahce has outscored its opponents 15-0. It was expected that the Fenerbahce offense may struggle a bit this year after the departure of Marcio Nobre to Istanbul side Besiktas, but Tuncay Sanli and Alex de Sousa have picked up the slack, along with Besiktas transfer Tumer Metin. Another striker may be on the way soon to assist the Canaries' offense.

Fenerbahce now turns its attention to Wednesday's crucial third-round UEFA Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev. Wednesday's first leg will be played at Dynamo's home in the Ukraine. Fenerbahce also returns to action this weekend in the Turkcell Super Lig against Genclerbirligi.