Bursaspor Weathers Early Storm to Claim Crucial Road Victory in Aksaray

The unbeaten dream died hard at Dağılgan Stadyumu on Sunday afternoon, but not before 68 Aksaray Belediyespor showed exactly why they had opened their 2. Lig campaign without a loss. In the end, though, Bursaspor's experience and clinical finishing proved decisive in a 2-1 victory that lifts the visitors back into the promotion conversation after a troubling two-game skid.

For 33 minutes, Aksaray's pristine record—three wins and five draws across eight matches—appeared destined to remain intact. The hosts controlled possession, pressed with intensity, and looked every bit the team that had frustrated opponents into submission through the season's opening months. Their compact defensive shape and willingness to absorb pressure had become a calling card, a formula that had yet to crack.

Then Bursaspor found the seam. The breakthrough goal arrived against the run of play, a reminder that in Turkish football's second tier, moments of quality separate the promotion hopefuls from the solid mid-table sides. While the scorer's identity remained unrecorded in official reports, the impact was unmistakable: Aksaray's unbeaten start suddenly hung by a thread.

What followed was a masterclass in first-half management from the visitors. Just as the hosts seemed poised to regroup before the interval, Bursaspor earned a penalty in first-half stoppage time. The conversion—again from an unnamed scorer—carried the ruthless efficiency that had characterized the Green Crocodiles' dominant 6-0 demolition of Adanaspor barely a month earlier. Heading into the dressing room with a two-goal cushion, Bursaspor had seized complete control.

Yet this Aksaray side hadn't remained unbeaten through eight matches by accepting defeat meekly. Whatever was said during halftime worked. Just 46 minutes into the match, O. Aksoy reduced the deficit, sending a jolt of energy through the home support and transforming what had seemed a comfortable afternoon for Bursaspor into a genuine contest.

The goal awakened uncomfortable memories for the visitors. Their recent wobble—consecutive losses to Kırklarelispor and Isparta 32 Spor in late September and early October—had raised questions about their promotion credentials. Those defeats had dropped Bursaspor from the automatic promotion places, making Sunday's assignment in central Anatolia more than just another road trip. It was a test of character.

Bursaspor passed that test, albeit nervously. The final 44 minutes became an exercise in game management, as the visitors absorbed Aksaray's pressure while searching for the knockout blow that never arrived. The defense, which had conceded just four goals across their six wins, rediscovered its solidity at the crucial moment.

For Aksaray, the defeat stings not just because it ended their unbeaten run, but because of what it revealed. The hosts have been remarkably difficult to beat—evidenced by their five draws—but they've struggled to find goals when it matters. Their previous match, a narrow 1-0 victory over Muş Menderesspor secured by İ. Karakaş's 89th-minute strike, had shown both their resilience and their vulnerability in front of goal. Sunday's performance followed that pattern: plenty of effort, insufficient cutting edge.

The standings tell the story of two clubs moving in opposite directions. Bursaspor, sitting fourth with 18 points from eight matches, have the profile of promotion contenders—six wins and only two losses suggest a team that knows how to win. Their goal difference and points tally indicate genuine quality, even if recent stumbles had temporarily derailed their momentum.

Aksaray, despite their unbeaten start now ended, occupy ninth place with 14 points. Their record—three wins, five draws, no losses—reads like that of a team still finding its identity. Are they promotion dark horses or merely well-organized survivors? Sunday's defeat won't answer that question definitively, but it does suggest the latter.

As Turkey's second tier enters its crucial autumn stretch, Bursaspor have steadied themselves. The promotion race remains wide open, but winning away from home after consecutive defeats demonstrates the mental fortitude required for the long campaign ahead. For Aksaray, the task now becomes proving that their unbeaten start was foundation rather than mirage, that they possess not just the resolve to avoid defeat, but the ambition to secure victories that matter.