Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 7:04 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk

Fenerbahçe left expensive points in the Süper Lig on Sunday. The team of Erol Bulut lost in-house 1-2 to Gençlerbirligi, who had not won a competition at the top club from Istanbul since the 1-3 victory on May 5, 2000 and in any case this season had already won eleven matches in a victory awaited. Due to the defeat, Fenerbahçe threatens to drop out for the time being in the battle for the national title. City fellow Besiktas has five points more and has one match credit. Galatasaray also has three points more as number two.

A striking header from Filip Novak broke open the game ten minutes before the break. After a curving free kick from José Sosa from the right, it was Novak who eventually headed the ball at the far post diagonally behind former Heerenveen goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt: 1-0. Since his transfer to Fenerbahçe in January 2018, no defender has scored more header goals in the Süper Lig than Novak: nine.

A strange own goal meant the 1-1 a few minutes later. Serdar Aziz, while sticking his leg high in the air, worked a cross from the left with his hand into the goal: 1-1. After just over an hour of play, Fenerbahçe finally relinquished the game. After a pass from Daniel Candeias, Floyd Ayité headed the ball behind goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and, according to both referee Abdulkadir Bitigen and the VAR, there was no offside.

That was also the last feat of the match. Ferdi Kadioglu only participated in the last fifteen minutes as a replacement for Bright Osayi-Samuel. In exactly one week, the important top match between Besiktas and Fenerbahçe is on the program. Two days earlier, Galatasaray takes on Rizespor in-house.