Prior to the game between these two arch-rivals, the news that took centre stage was the fact that Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic was appointed by the Turkish Football Federation to officiate the match, signifying a historic moment in Turkey.
Fenerbahce have been desperately pleading for a foreign referee to rule over this particular contest for a while now, and they did eventually get their way. But I will speak about this and its consequences a little later.
So on the game itself. It was tense. Very tense. Both teams and fans knew the significance of this match. Fenerbahce had the chance to cut the lead at the top down to three points, while Galatasaray could have put one hand on a 25th Super Lig crown with a win.
The players were tentative and afraid to make a mistake. As a result, not much really happened.
Galatasaray had most of the possession but struggled to open up a Fenerbahce team that were set up defensively and with the aim to perhaps score a goal on the counterattack and snatch a one-goal win.
The home side had no chance of note, while Fenerbahce had one good opportunity from a corner when Alexander Djiku’s header was saved by Fernando Muslera.
So in the end, it was 0-0. The gap remains six points. But in reality, Galatasaray have mentally extended their lead to seven points, because should they finish level on points, they will win due to the superior head-to-head.
Mario Lemina had an utterly exceptional performance in the heart of midfield for Galatasaray, providing a dominant display and almost single-handedly keeping Fenerbahce’s midfield at bay. He was monstrous.
Fenerbahce’s 19-year-old centre-back Yusuf Akcicek was also fantastic alongside Milan Skriniar, dealing with the likes of Victor Osimhem and Baris Alper Yilmaz really well.
Yusuf looks like a really exciting young talent. He has been superb since coming into the side, and Jose Mourinho has also been full of praise for him.
In a position on the pitch where Turkey have struggled to produce players, he may be a gem for the national team.
So without question, Okan Buruk’s men will be the happier side. They remain in control and have got a really tough and tetchy fixture out of the way. In an ideal world, they would have liked to finish Fener off, but a point will be fine.
I do think it was a little bit of a missed opportunity for Fenerbahce though. They had more momentum heading into the match, and the vibes haven’t been great around Galatasaray for a while due to recent European results.
Perhaps they should have been a bit more aggressive and offensive to try and get a win that would have shaken the title race up. But really, that is Jose Mourinho for you. He was probably too defensive. He should have been a little braver.
And that is showcased by their three games against biggest rivals Galatasaray and Besiktas this season, picking up just a single point and their sole goal coming from the penalty spot. Perhaps food for thought for Mourinho.
And the Portuguese manager was clearly wound up and disappointed knowing it wasn’t a great result for them, venting during a pretty angry and, quite frankly, out-of-order press conference where he – yet again – slandered Turkish referees.
Following the game, he said: “After the match I went to the referee’s room, after congratulating Vincic I turned to the fourth official, who was Turkish, and said, ‘If it was you (referencing all Turkish referees), this match would have been a disaster.‘”
That is nasty behaviour and a horrible way to speak to an official – totally unprovoked too. It infuriates me the way he consistently belittles Turkish officials and the Super Lig.
He continued: “Under normal conditions, this league is still there. If referees in Turkey look at the performance of this referee, self-criticize and say, ‘I want to manage the match cleanly and honestly like this referee’, the season will end well and with excitement.
“If the circus we have seen since the beginning of the year continues, it will be different.”
So essentially, Turkish referees will let Galatasaray win the league if they remain ‘unclean’ but foreign referees would help Fenerbahce win the league. Madness.
Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk wasn’t actually happy with the referee and also poked a jab at Mourinho.
“It took Mourinho a long time to cry! The Crying One… He is famous for crying. He also went into the referee’s room and cried! Let him keep crying,” he said.
“Slavko Vincic was worse than Turkish referees. His hands and feet were shaking during the match, I couldn’t believe it,” he continued.
I thought Vincic had a pretty good game. But to be honest, he barely had anything to do. It wasn’t an incredible performance or anything that groundbreaking.
But here lies the issue. Instantly after the game, Trabzonspor put out a statement saying they now demand to have Vincic for their matches against Fenerbahce and Galatasaray to come.
And frankly, they have every right to. This is the can of worms the TFF have opened. All Turkish clubs are volatile, paranoid and hate Turkish referees even if they have perfect performances. So the TFF caving in and letting Fenerbahce have their way will now trigger all Turkish clubs to ask for a foreign referee.
They should have stood firm, backed their referees and said they are supporting them fully. You have to draw a line somewhere. But now, they are going to have more clubs complaining and saying it isn’t fair that they don’t get a foreign referee as well.
Galatasaray accuse Mourinho of racism
After a pretty drab match, there was certainly no shortage of drama afterwards.
In the late evening, Galatasaray put out an official statement indicating that they would be filing an official complaint to UEFA and FIFA accusing Jose Mourinho of racism.
“Since the commencement of his managerial duties in Türkiye, Fenerbahçe manager Jose Mourinho has persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people. Today, his discourse has escalated beyond merely immoral comments into unequivocally inhumane rhetoric,” they said.
This came after Mourinho said in his press conference that the Galatasaray bench were “jumping like monkeys.”
I have made it absolutely clear that I am totally against Mourinho always degrading Turkish football and their referees. It is bang out of order.
However, what he has said about the Galatasaray bench is absolutely not racism. When I saw the interview initially, racism didn’t even cross my mind.
I’m pretty sure he didn’t have any racist intent in what he said, and if you use common sense, you can understand what he is saying.
So I think it is really poor of Galatasaray to put out a statement like this following the match. I know there is a bitter hatred between the two clubs and they are always trying to get one up on each other, but this isn’t the way to go.
Racism isn’t a joke and people genuinely are on the receiving end of it on a regular basis. Don’t try to fabricate racism and use it as a weapon.
There’s one thing being angry at Mourinho for his behaviour, but there’s no need to make these types of accusations.
And as expected, Fenerbahce came out with a statement defending Mourinho.
“A post-match remark made by our coach, Jose Mourinho, has been deliberately taken entirely out of context and distorted in a misleading manner,” they said.
“As any reasonable person can clearly recognize, the expression used by Jose Mourinho was solely intended to describe the excessive reaction of the opposing team’s technical staff to the referee’s decisions during the match. These remarks cannot, under any circumstances, be associated with racism.
“Any attempt to portray this statement as a racist remark is completely malicious.”
So that is that then. Galatasaray have slugged it out with Fenerbahce for the last time this season. Four points from six for the two-time defending champions is a major step in the right direction in the title race.
You never know though, they could still meet in the cup!
Highlight of the Week
Besiktas continued their fantastic start to life under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a fantastic 3-1 victory at Eyupspor, leapfrogging their opponents into fourth in the Super Lig.
However, Eyupspor’s highly-rated 24-year-old goalkeeper Berke Ozer continued to show his class with this fantastic reflex save.
Team of the Week
Simon Banza is Our Platform’s player of the week after the striker bagged a brace in Trabzonspor’s 3-2 win over Gaziantep. Those goals saw him move into second in the Super Lig top scorer standings with 16 goals, creeping up on Krzysztof Piatek (18).
Teammate Edin Visca also makes the team after his goal and assist, while Besiktas’ Rafa Silva also appears after his goal and two assists.
Follow the Turkish Super Lig with Our Platform.
