Fenerbahce had the opportunity to cut the lead to Galatasaray at the top of the table down to three points when they hosted Rizespor on Sunday.
New signings Diego Carlos and Milan Skriniar started their first games for the club, as Jose Mourinho set his team up in a 3-5-2 formation. Another new signing, Anderson Talisca, started from the bench.
However, the game started horribly for Fener, as they went two goals down in the opening 15 minutes, and for basically the entirety of the first half, never looked like scoring. It was a flat display.
But on the cusp of half-time, they were awarded a penalty after a Skriniar was pulled down in the penalty area, which also saw Rizespor go down to 10 men. Edin Dzeko stepped up to tuck home the penalty, giving them some momentum going into the second half.
But even against 10 men, Fenerbahce were struggling to find an equaliser, with the Rizespor woodwork getting rattled on a few occasions.
Yet the game was essentially turned on its head in the 78th minute, when Rachid Ghezzal was bizarrely also sent off for the away side.
The Algerian picked up two yellow cards in quite literally a few seconds. Firstly, he was booked for taking his time walking off the pitch when he was being substituted, before then receiving a second yellow after telling the referee to 'f**k off'.
Some may argue it was harsh as this type of thing happens pretty often in football, but regardless, it was stupid from Ghezzal.
And from that moment on, the game was there for Fenerbahce to win against the nine men of Rizespor. Dzeko made it 2-2 just a minute later, before Youssef En-Nesyri scored yet another header in the 89th minute to give them a 3-2 win.
The strike duo continue their rich vein of form, and it is imperative they don't stop if they want to catch Galatasaray.
So an unconvincing and not totally inspiring victory, but we are at a point in the season where three points is all that matters.
And Galatasaray will be thinking exactly the same after their match.
On Monday evening, the two-time defending champions paid a trip to Gaziantep, managed by former player and club legend Selcuk Inan.
Keeping in recent performances, Galatasaray huffed and puffed and struggled to get anything going at all, giving away the ball regularly and failing to put any consistent pressure on the Gaziantep defence.
But they had just about enough to scrape out a 1-0 win, with new signing Ahmed Kutucu finishing well from the edge of the box on his first start for the club.
A really heartwarming moment, as Ahmed has been a Galatasaray fan since he was a child, and made his dream move to the club from newly-promoted Eyupspor after a fine start to the season.
Another signing - albeit a far bigger name - Alvaro Morata came on late in the game to make his debut, and the Spanish national team captain will surely be a great acquisition for the club, and should forge a fine strike partnership with Victor Osimhen in Mauro Icardi's absence.
A player who has played for Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Chelsea and AC Milan, Morata possesses obvious qualities that will make Galatasaray a much stronger team, and his leadership will also prove to be very important.
Galatasaray are set to be very busy up until the close of the Super Lig window on February 11th as they look to bolster their squad in an attempt to fend off Fenerbahce and win their third title in a row. Mario Lemina looks poised for a return to the club after his loan spell around five years ago - much to the delight of fans.
There was also a very fun back-and-forth on Tuesday morning that grabbed the attention of the media. Jose Mourinho was seemingly unhappy with a decision that went Galatasaray's way, posting a screenshot of what he clearly believed was a handball and should have been a penalty, referencing the 'Handball World Cup.'
Of course, he didn't show the full clip or the context around the handball, and the fact that it deflected from close range and Davinson Sanchez was trying to do everything possible to move out of the way. Instead, just opted to post the single freeze frame to suit his agenda.
And Mauro Icardi, who returned to Istanbul to link up with the Galatasaray team during his injury lay-off, was prepared to fight back. The Argentine has taken great joy in tormenting and winding up Fenerbahce during his time in Turkey, so he wasn't going to miss this opportunity.
On his Instagram story, he posted an image of a book with a crying Jose Mourinho on the cover and the headline: 'The Crying One', before following it up with a number of contentious decisions that went Fenerbahce's way in the recent past.
Fenerbahce proceeded to put a post out on X, saying, 'We have Mourinho', and Galatasaray were quick to respond just minutes later, with an image of Icardi laughing.
Wonderful stuff.
Krzysztof Piatek, the goal machine
There are many a big-name striker in the Turkish Super Lig.
Victor Osimhen, Edin Dzeko, Youssef En-Nesyri and Ciro Immobile probably stand out the most.
But one name that may be going under the radar for the casual Super Lig fan is Krzysztof Piatek.
The Pole is having an astonishing season, sitting atop the leading goalscorer standings, with his clinical hat-trick in Istanbul Basaksehir's 4-0 win against Samsunspor making it 18 goals in just 20 games. That's already more goals than he scored last season (17).
En-Nesyri and Trabzonspor striker Simon Banza are second with 13 goals, while Osimhen, Dzeko and Eyupspor's Mame Thiam have 12.
He even scored nine goals in 12 UEFA Conference League games this season - including the qualifying phase.
A 'proper' number nine, Piatek is a master predator in the box, focused solely on putting the ball in the back of the net. His ability to pop up in the right place at the right time is unmatched in Turkey, and when he is in front of goal, he is simply clinical.
In 2018, Piatek joined Genoa and became the first player since Andriy Shevchenko in 1999 to score five goals in his first four Serie A appearances. He then went on to score eight goals in his first six league matches - the best start to a season by a debutant since Karl Aage Hansen in the 1949/50 season.
Another record tumbled, as he soon became the first player since Gabriel Batistuta in the 1994/95 campaign to score in each of his first seven Serie A appearances.
As a result, AC Milan couldn't ignore this freakish form, and signed him during the January transfer window to lead the line.
He had an amazing start to his Milan career too, scoring in his first four games and becoming the fastest player in Milan history to reach six goals. Interestingly, he also netted with his first three shots on target.
He ended the season with 22 goals in 37 games, while being Genoa and Milan's top goalscorer despite having only played half a campaign with both clubs.
However, from that moment on, he struggled to reach those lofty heights again, moving to Hertha Berlin a year after signing for Milan. He would later sign for Fiorentina and Salernitana, with little success.
But Piatek has found his Midas touch once more in Turkey, scoring at a breathtaking rate and elevating himself above all the league's other strikers. He has some way to go if he wants to break the all-time Super Lig record, which saw Galatasaray legend Tanju Colak claim the prestigious European Golden Shoe award in the 1987/88 season with a whopping 39 goals.
But one thing is for sure, he is at the moment the best goalscorer in the Super Lig.
Highlight of the Week
Kasimpasa won an eight-goal thriller against Adana Demirspor on the weekend, with new manager Burak Yilmaz getting a victory in his first game in charge.
It was an incredible game of football, and Frenchman Nabil Alioui scored an absolute pearler to put Adana Demirspor 2-1 up at the start of the second half.
Team of the Week
As expected, Piatek is the player of the week after his showing against high-flying Samsunspor, while strike partnership Dzeko and En-Nesyri also make the team according to Flashscore's player ratings.
Two Alanyaspor defenders and their goalkeeper also find a place in the XI after their shock 1-0 win at Goztepe, which saw Alanya face 25 shots and not concede a goal despite their opponents registering 2.87 xG. Remarkably, that was Goztepe's first loss at home this season.