Fenerbahçe visits Trabzon in tense game
TRABZON
Meetings between Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor have staged many heated exchanges and were often played under hostile reception by home team fans. Hürriyet photo
Fenerbahçe visits Trabzonspor in the big game of the Spor Toto Super League’s round 22 on Feb. 17.The Yellow Canaries have 34 points and are sitting third with six points behind leader and defending champion Galatasaray. Trabzonspor is 10th with 27 points and hopes to maintain its positive run with the arrival of the new coach Tolunay Kafkas.
However, the meetings between the two teams mean much more than mere battles for points, since the Fenerbahçe vs. Trabzonspor games has grown to become the second most heated top-flight rivalry in recent years, following the Fenerbahçe vs. Galatasaray derbies recently.
The main turning point came the following year, when Fenerbahçe won the title over Trabzonspor after trailing the Black Sea Storm by eight points in mid-season. Fenerbahçe had a stunning run, winning 17 of its last 18 games, which landed Aykut Kocaman his first title as manager. On the other hand, Fenerbahçe also deprived Trabzonspor of the chance to end its title drought that dates back to 1984.
Things got more heated one and a half months after Fenerbahçe won the title, when Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım and several officials were found guilty by an Istanbul court for attempting to manipulate matches from that campaign.
Trabzon has been claiming that it was robbed of a championship and deserves to be given the trophy.
The club has made several official applications to national and international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), but was rejected.
The last match between the two teams at the Avni Aker Stadium was played under a constant rain of objects thrown from the stands.
Earlier on Feb. 17, Bursaspor hosts Elazığspor, Orduspor takes on Istanbul BB and Gençlerbirliği meets Mersin İdman Yurdu.
On Feb. 16, fourth-place Antalyaspor takes on Karabükspor, second-place Beşiktaş plays against Gaziantepspor and Eskişehirspor meets Kayserispor.
