Leader Galatasaray held by goalles derby

ISTANBUL

Turkish Super League leader Galatasaray was held by a goalles draw with its archrival Fenerbahçe late on March 17 at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, but managed to sustain its spot at the top of the standings.

Both Istanbul teams wasted opportunities and had to settle with the same result as their encounter in the first half of the season.

Galatasaray increased their point total to 54, regardless of the result of the Beşiktaş-Başakşehir match late on March 18.

Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim was happy with both the score and the game.

“We do not think that we dropped two points since we defended the point difference with one of our title race rivals,” he said after the game.

Fenerbahçe’s inability to win at home left them six points behind Galatasaray, with an angry coach Aykut Kocaman putting most of the blame on referee Bülent Yıldırım.

“I think everyone sees the referees’ approach to Fenerbahçe,” he said. Yıldırım “got the result he wanted from the game,” Kocaman added.