Süper Lig derby win - Galatasaray chase superior head-to-head record against Fenerbahce

67 years & 173 games 

Few fixtures on the football calendar can promise drama quite as readily as when Galatasaray and Fenerbahce lock horns, and Sunday’s clash between the two Turkish giants at the top of the Süper Lig table was certainly no exception.

Despite hosting their historic rivals and leading comfortably in the league title race, Galatasaray almost went behind to Fenerbahce in the 13th minute when a penalty was awarded. Only for Brazilian midfielder Talisca to fire the potential opening goal wide of the right post. That proved to be the scare that kicked the home side into action, with Victor Osimhen scoring five minutes before the break, followed by two more goals from Galatasaray in the second half, after a second yellow card for former Manchester City shot-stopper Ederson just after the hour mark.

However, while the result offers an immediate boost to Okan Buruk’s side, as they now enjoy a seven-point gap over their rivals in the title race, the win also went some way to levelling the historic head-to-head record between the two clubs. Which, despite what Sunday’s result may suggest, has been anything but a one-sided affair.

Looking back through Transfermarkt’s extensive record, we find that both of Turkey’s biggest clubs have now faced one another no less than 173 times across all competitions in their respective histories. And, following Sunday’s win for Galatasaray, the head-to-head record now stands at 58 wins for Galatasaray, 61 wins for Fenerbahce and 54 draws. So just three games separate the two clubs over the course of 67 years of clashes in one of European football’s biggest derbies.

However, this wasn’t always the case. Galatasaray’s unrivalled dominance of the Süper Lig - winning five of the last eight league campaigns - has also seen them lose just four of their 21 clashes with Fenerbahce in the last eight seasons. And should that dominance of the Turkish top-flight continue, it won’t be long before Galatasaray overtake their rivals as the undisputed champions of this fixture.