101-year old Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray Intercontinental Derby ends in draw


Turkey's two leading football clubs, Fenerbahçe of Istanbul's Asian side and Galatasaray from the European side, met for the 381st time at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday in Fenerbahçe's Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium. The 101-year old rivalry is known as "The Intercontinental Derby" or "The Bosporus Derby."The match ended with a draw as Fenerbahçe took the lead 1-0 against Galatasaray with Diego Ribas scoring in 37th minute, while Olcan Adın's header in the 83th minute brought the equalizer for Galatasaray.Both teams had collected 17 points in the first eight games of the Turkish Super League and stand at second and third positions before the match, with Galatasaray ahead of Fenerbahçe with more goals scored. After the draw in the derby, leader Beşiktaş was the actual winner in this week by taking its lead to two points.Galatasaray was the favorite of the match as it performed better in its last five games and with one draw and four consecutive wins, while Fenerbahçe managed to attain three wins while losing the away derby game against Beşiktaş.However, the yellow-reds have a tradition of having a hard time in Kadıköy, no matter how good their performance is.With the latest match, Galatasaray has failed to win in Fenerbahçe's Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium for the last 16 years (or for 5,787 days as some Fenerbahçe fans count with proud) and 20 matches, only achieving six draws. Fenerbahçe scored 41 goals in these games, while Galatasaray only responded with 15.In all games played in century old rivalry, Fenerbahçe leads with 144 wins while Galatasaray won 122 matches, with the remaining 115 matches ending in a draw.