A few days after qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in 12 years following a nail-biting extra-time victory over 10-man Juventus, Galatasaray returned to league action at home against Alanyaspor.
Coming off the back of a loss to Konyaspor, it was important that the three-time defending champions returned to winning ways in the league.
Despite a brief scare, they did exactly that, claiming a very good 3-1 victory.
Sacha Boey gave Galatasaray the lead on the stroke of half-time, before Steve Mounie struck back for the visitors a few minutes after the interval.
Captain on the day, Lucas Torreira, poked home after some good work from Victor Osimhen to restore the lead, before the Nigerian capitalised on an awful mistake from the goalkeeper to wrap the game up.
It is set to be a really busy few weeks for Galatasaray. A crucial derby away at Besiktas is to come this weekend, before a Champions League tie with Liverpool, and league fixtures against Istanbul Basaksehir, Goztepe and Trabzonspor.
So the pressure was back on Fenerbahce, who were visiting Antalyaspor and looking to trim the gap at the summit back down to two points. Coach Domenico Tedesco was unfortunately unable to take his place on the touchline due to illness.
With several key players out with injuries, Fenerbahce had to shuffle their pack around a bit. Matteo Guendouzi was covering at centre-back, with the team switching to a three-at-the-back formation.
And as a result, they were well off the pace, which can't have been helped by the fact that just days prior, they were knocked out of the Europa League at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Antalyaspor took the lead before the break courtesy of a Levent Mercan own goal, and they doubled their lead early in the second half via Sander van de Streek.
Fenerbahce responded just after the hour mark, thanks to new signing Sidiki Cherif, and quickly made it 2-2 after another own goal.
From that point on, it was expected that Fenerbahce would go on to claim the win. However, Antalyaspor stood firm, and after a last-gasp chance that saw Dorgeles Nene astonishingly hit the bar for Fenerbahce from close range, they had to settle for a draw.
Four points dropped in the last two weeks, and now four points behind Galatasaray, it has been a really bad period for Fenerbahce.
There is huge pressure on the club and the players to win their first title in 12 years, and you can really feel it weighing down on everyone. Every game feels like life and death just to keep pace with Galatasaray.
They do not want to risk things unravelling, and a tricky trip to Gaziantep in the Turkish Cup on Wednesday has taken on increasing significance. They need to win to secure their spot in the knockout rounds.
Trabzon and Onuachu keep rolling
Trabzonspor claimed a 3-1 win over Karagumruk on Friday evening, with Paul Onuachu getting on the scoresheet yet again, while fellow Nigerian Chibuike Nwaiwu bagged a brace from centre back.
Onuachu leads the way at the top of the goalscoring standings with 18 Super Lig goals, two ahead of Eldor Shomurodov.
All of a sudden, Trabzon are just three points behind Fenerbahce. Despite the fact that they are unbeaten this season and have lost three fewer games than Trabzon, Fener have drawn nine out of 24 games, which is seriously hindering them.
Incredibly, both teams have won the same number of games (15), indicating just how impressive Fatih Tekke and his troops have been.
Team of the Week
Onuachu is the Flashscore Player of the Week, according to our very own internal ratings system, after his goal and assist for Trabzon. He is joined by teammates Nwaiwu and Ozan Tufan.
All three Galatasaray goal scorers, Torreira, Osimhen and Boey, make the starting XI, while Besiktas' new signing, Emmanuel Agbadou, is included following his winning goal in their 1-0 win at Kocaelispor.
