Galatasaray beat Gençlerbirliği 1-0 as Batrakov completes first full match

Galatasaray beat Gençlerbirliği 1-0 in Ankara in the eighth round of Turkey’s top football league.

Goalkeeper Irfan Egribayat scored an own goal in the 88th minute, settling a match that had been goalless.

Russian midfielder Alexey Batrakov started and played all 90 minutes for Galatasaray for the first time since moving to Turkey.

The 21-year-old joined the Istanbul club in summer 2026 after playing for Moscow’s Lokomotiv.

He had scored his first Galatasaray goal three days earlier, in a 4-1 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League.

Galatasaray remain top of the league with 19 points, while Gençlerbirliği have eight points and sit 14th.

Galatasaray are due to host Fenerbahçe on October 26, and Gençlerbirliği are due to visit Konyaspor on October 25.