On the 16th matchday of the Spor Toto Süper Lig, Medipol Basaksehir and Galatasaray, the leaders of the Istanbul city derby, faced each other in the eagerly awaited city derby. Host Basaksehir got off to a better start at Fatih Terim Stadium and took the lead through Irfan Can Kahveci in the 18th minute.

Kahveci did not make GS goalkeeper Fernando Muslera look good with his not-so-placed shot just outside the penalty area. On the other side, Basaksehir goalkeeper Mert Günok also did not stain himself with fame when he brought down Badou Ndiaye in the sixteenth and thus left a penalty in favour of the visitors. Eren Derdiyok (30) used the penalty kick to equal the score 1:1. This was also the half-time result.

In the second half of the game, the match did not live up to what many had expected from the top game. Substitute Eljero Elia (71st) showed weaknesses in the final in a promising position and shot the ball clearly over the goal with the inside of his foot. Selcuk Inan (78th), who was also new to the game.


He was able to overcome the wall in a dangerous free-kick situation, but not Basaksehir's back man Mert Günok. Junior Caicara (82nd) again forced Muslera to a parade with a hard shot. Henry Onyekuru (89) missed out on the biggest chance to score just before the end of the match. The 21-year-old Nigerian was able to fire freely from close range. Although the attacker was unrestrained, his weak shot on goal landed in the arms of BS-Goalie Günok. A little later, the game was whistled off at 1-1.

With the draw Medipol Basaksehir now has 34 points and is unchallenged in first place. Coach Abdullah Avci's squad secured the unofficial Süper Lig Autumn Champion title on the 15th matchday, while the title aspirant defended the point gap to Galatasaray.

The yellow-red team now have 26 points with a point win and are climbing to second place, at least for the time being, but remain eight points behind Basaksehir. At the end of the first half of the season, Basaksehir will be playing in Alanya on the 17th matchday. Turkey's record champions Galatasaray, however, will welcome their formidable league rivals Demir Grup Sivasspor.