Sivasspor and Mardin BB played out a 2-2 draw in the fifth round of the Turkish 1. Lig at Yeni Sivas 4 Eylul Stadium on Wednesday evening. The result leaves the hosts rooted to the bottom of the table while Mardin maintain their unbeaten start.
Mardin took the lead twice against the run of play. Tonio Teklić finished off a move in the thirty-fifth minute before Olarenwaju Kayode struck just after the break to give the visitors a two-goal cushion. The hosts had seen a Đorđe Denić goal cancelled by VAR in the twenty-sixth minute, a decision that clearly kept them on edge.
Rey Manaj pulled one back from the spot in the sixty-second minute and then completed his brace with a second goal in the seventy-first. The penalty was awarded after a foul in the box, and Manaj made no mistake from the spot. Sivasspor pressed for an equaliser but Mardin's defence held firm until the final minutes.
By then the statistics tell a different story. Sivasspor enjoyed 54 per cent possession and registered four shots on target, while Mardin managed only three. Both sides were equally wasteful with their chances, and here's the thing — four shots on target producing one goal suggests the visitors were more clinical when it mattered.
The result means Sivasspor remain in eighteenth place with two points from four games, while Mardin sit fifth with eight points and have not lost a single match this season. To be fair, the away side looked comfortable in their approach, even if the scoreline eventually reflected a game of two halves.
