Galatasaray 0-1 Fenerbahçe
Fenerbahçe defeated Galatasaray 1-0 in an away match during the 37th week of the Süper Lig. Despite playing with ten men for 70 minutes due to an unjust red card shown by the referee, Fenerbahçe managed to secure victory with a goal from Çağlar Söyüncü, keeping their championship hopes alive until the final week.
The 37th week of the Süper Lig featured the Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe derby. Needing only one point to clinch the championship, Galatasaray lost 1-0 to Fenerbahçe, leaving the title race to be decided in the last week.
TITLE RACE GOES TO THE FINAL WEEK
Playing with ten men for about 70 minutes after Djiku was controversially sent off in the 21st minute, Fenerbahçe won the derby at RAMS Park with a goal from Çağlar Söyüncü in the 71st minute. This result reduced the point gap between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray to three points before the final week.
STARTING LINEUPS
Galatasaray: Muslera, Kaan Ayhan, Nelsson, Davinson Sanchez, Derrick Köhn, Lucas Torreira, Kerem Demirbay, Hakim Ziyech, Mertens, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Icardi
Fenerbahçe: Livakovic, Osayi, Çağlar Söyüncü, Oosterwolde, Ferdi, Fred, Djiku, Szymanski, Mert Hakan Yandaş, Tadic, Batshuayi
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
1′ The derby kicks off.
5′ Dries Mertens receives a yellow card for a foul on Fred.
11′ Djiku is booked for a foul on Torreira.
13′ Following Djiku’s foul, a scuffle breaks out on the field, resulting in yellow cards for Osayi and Barış Alper.
18′ Fenerbahçe’s quick attack sees Szymanski’s shot from outside the box narrowly miss Muslera’s goal.
20′ Szymanski attempts a shot from the right outside the box, which goes just wide.
22′ RED CARD! Djiku receives a second yellow card for another foul on Torreira and is sent off.
34′ Batshuayi is booked for a foul on Davinson Sanchez.
35′ Barış Alper Yılmaz heads Ziyech’s free-kick over the bar from a promising position.
39′ Icardi’s header from a Mert Hakan Yandaş free-kick goes close to the goal but is deflected for a corner.
41′ A quick Fenerbahçe attack ends with Fred’s shot narrowly missing the goal.
44′ Batshuayi’s shot from the right side of the penalty area is blocked by the defense.
The first half ends 0-0.
59′ Hakim Ziyech is booked for a foul on Batshuayi.
62′ Fred’s shot from the edge of the box misses by a small margin.
64′ Szymanski’s cross into the box is cleared by Muslera before Fred can reach it.
65′ Mert Hakan Yandaş is substituted by Joshua King and receives a yellow card as he exits the field.
71′ GOAL! Çağlar Söyüncü scores from a corner taken by Szymanski, giving Fenerbahçe a 1-0 lead.
90+5′ Fred receives a yellow card.
The match ends with Fenerbahçe winning 1-0.
FENERBAHÇE SQUAD
Fenerbahçe’s coach İsmail Kartal made two changes from the previous match against Kayserispor, bringing in Bright Osayi-Samuel for the suspended Rodrigo Becao and Mert Hakan Yandaş for the injured Cengiz Ünder.
MERT HAKAN YANDAŞ RETURNS TO STARTING LINEUP
After starting the 35th-week match against Konyaspor, Mert Hakan Yandaş was a substitute against Kayserispor but returned to the starting lineup against Galatasaray, replacing the injured Cengiz Ünder.
PRE-MATCH TENSION
Before the derby, there was tension between players from both teams on the field. Fenerbahçe players were on one half of the field checking the pitch, while Mert Hakan Yandaş and Galatasaray’s Kerem Aktürkoğlu exchanged words. Galatasaray’s Abdülkerim Bardakcı joined the altercation, but it was defused by the technical staff and other players.
FENERBAHÇE MISSING SIX PLAYERS
Fenerbahçe faced Galatasaray without six players: Rodrigo Becao (suspended) and İrfan Can Kahveci, İsmail Yüksek, Cengiz Ünder, Serdar Aziz, and Rade Krunic (injured).
FENERBAHÇE SUPPORTERS AT RAMS PARK
2,400 Fenerbahçe supporters attended the match at RAMS Park, cheering and supporting their team.
MINISTERS ATTENDED THE DERBY
Three ministers, including Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Mehmet Özhaseki, and Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan, watched the derby from the protocol tribune.
