Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Rizespor 2nd with 68 points, Yeni Malatyaspor 19th with 16, 52 apart. Rizespor's recent output lagged their position: 7th on form over five rounds while 2nd in the table. Against a league average of 1.34 goals per team per game, Rizespor ran at 1.78 scored and 0.97 conceded, Yeni Malatyaspor at 0.61 and 2.25.
8 meetings are on record — 5 won by Rizespor, 3 by Yeni Malatyaspor, 0 drawn, at 2.88 goals per meeting. The pattern favours whoever hosts: home teams have won 63% of the meetings. 63% of the meetings finished with three goals or more.
Çaykur Didi Stadyumu in Rize, capacity 15,332, hosted the game. Half-time and full-time told different stories: Rizespor led 2-0 at the break, before 4 more goals closed it at 5-1.