Fenerbahçe beats Galatasaray in Istanbul derby

ISTANBUL

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Fenerbahçe defeated arch-rival Galatasaray 2-0 in a derby on Nov. 20 in the Spor Toto Super League at its Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium in Istanbul to continue its recent renaissance.  
 
The Yellow Canaries opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time through Dutch forward Robin van Persie.
The former Manchester United and Arsenal player made sure of the points 12 minutes from time with his second goal of the match from a penalty. 

“It was one of my biggest dreams to score in the derby and win because if you score and you don’t win it doesn’t feel the same,” van Persie said after the game. “I played derbies before, big derbies, but in this derby the atmosphere is really, really special.” Fenerbahçe dominated the play, with Galatasaray unable to muster much offense.      

“We created four or five chances against a team like Galatasaray. I’m quite pleased about the team played organization-wise, and we are getting better and better,” said coach Dick Advocaat in a post-game interview, comparing the atmosphere of the game to Celtic-Rangers derbies in Glasgow. 

Advocaat managed Rangers between 1998 and 2001. 

His countryman, Galatarasay coach Jan Olde Riekerink, said after the match that his side failed to display its dominant game.

Both coaches agreed that the Lions created zero chances during the whole game. 

Some Fenerbahçe regulars were absent from the derby. Turkish central midfielder Mehmet Topal was suspended, and Dutch winger Jeremain Lens was forced to sit out after sustaining an injury in a friendly with the Netherlands during the week.

The win raised Fenerbahçe to third in the league with 21 points, taking them a point clear of their opponents and to within six points of provisional leaders Beşiktaş.

Medipol Başakşehir was set to play against Çaykur Rizespor late on Nov. 21, with a win or draw set to take the Istanbul outsiders back to the top of the table.

Galatasaray has failed to win away at Fenerbahçe for an astonishing 17 years in the league, during which time it has won the UEFA Cup, Super Cup, seven league titles, five Turkish Cups, and five domestic Super Cups.        

The perennial rivalry between the two teams started over a century ago, on Jan. 17, 1909, with a special match that ended 2-0 in Galatasaray’s favor.        

Neither team was defeated at home during last season’s matches.

Beşiktaş, meanwhile, narrowly beat Adanaspor, a newcomer to the league, 2-1 away on Nov. 19 in a game in which its Cameroonian striker Vincent Aboubakar missed several chancces along with winger Ricardo Quaresma and midfielder Tolgay Arslan.

Beşiktaş will play against Benfica on Nov. 23 in a Champions League group stage game in Istanbul, before it meets Başakşehir and Fenerbahçe subsequently in the league.