Derby Dominance: Fenerbahce 2 - 1 Besiktas

Derby Dominance: Fenerbahce 2 - 1 Besiktas
By Nathan L. Redd

The first big derby of the year for Fenerbahce did not disappoint, as the Yellow Canaries came from behind to defeat Besiktas 2-1 on Saturday. The packed house at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium was treated to a fantastic performance from the home side, as well as a controversial ending that almost saw the home team drop points.

Besiktas didn't take long to get on the scoreboard as superstar Bobo received a great through ball to put the Black Eagles up 1-0 in the third minute. The pass to Bobo was phenomenal, but it was a defensive lapse by Fenerbahce that allowed him to be wide open with only Volkan to beat. The early goal quited the home crowd briefly, but Fenerbahce soon began to take control. Delgado and Bobo kept the Fenerbahce defense on their toes, but Volkan Demirel made several great saves to keep the Canaries from falling behind even more.

Fenerbahce was looking for holes in the Besiktas defense, and the breakthrough finally came in the 29th minute. Fener pushed forward on attack and Deivid de Souza found the ball ricocheted back to him right in front of the Besiktas goal. He was able to put a header past BJK goalkeeper Hakan to tie the game at 1-1. The game would remain 1-1 but Fenerbahce had several close chances right before the half, including what seemed like two sure-fire goals from Alex de Souza, but both shots were off target and the teams would go into the half knotted up at one.

The second half found Fenerbahce in attacking mode where they were able to control the ball and get several opportunities. Fifteen minutes into the half, Semih Senturk found an opportunity after Hakan could not hang onto the ball in a save attempt. The ball bounced toward Semih who found nothing but open goal to put Fenerbahce up 2-1. After the goal, Semih ripped off his shirt to reveal an undershirt with a photo of him, his wife, and new baby with the headline "Sizin Icin."

Despite the lead, Fenerbahce continued to push forward with opportunities to score. Zico substituted Tumer Metin for Alex de Souza in the 71st minute and Tumer immediately got involved in the action. Five minutes later Stephen Appiah relieved Deniz Baris. Besiktas would have several more opportunities to tie up the score. Bobo would find one opportunity again with no one to beat but Volkan Demirel. Volkan made a diving attempt to save the shot, but Bobo's shot sailed past Volkan just to the right of goal. The huge break for Fenerbahce seemed to keep the momentum on their side. Besiktas would have another opportunity shortly before the end of stoppage time as Volkan found himself out of position and way in front of goal. Besiktas took a premature shot with Volkan out of the box, but Fener defender Edu Dracena was there to prevent the game-tying score.

Five minutes of stoppage time was added and it would be five minutes of action for both teams. Fenerbahce had several opportunities to put the game out of reach but couldn't put the ball on target. Finally, only moments before the end of time, Besiktas sent a nice cross to the right side that was headed in past Volkan Demirel, but the goal was waived off by the officials. The Besiktas bench erupted with anger but the goal would not stand. Fenerbahce would hang on for the final moments to preserve the 2-1 win.

With the win, Fenerbahce leaps past Besiktas into third place in the Turkcell Super Lig, tied with Sivasspor in second place with 22 points. Sivasspor plays host to bottom-feeders Kasimpasa on Sunday.

(all photos courtesy of Hurriyet)