Fenerbahçe traveled to the nation's capital this weekend in hopes of claiming three points.  Instead, rising tempers and few opportunities welcomed the Yellow Canaries.  Neither team found many realistic chances to score, and the lack of chances resulted in a scoreless draw Saturday night between Fener and Gençlerbirliği.

After a terrible February, Fenerbahçe went to Ankara this weekend hoping to turn last weekend's win into a two-game winning streak.  Instead, the Canaries found few realistic scoring chances and a less-than-exciting match in a scoreless draw against Gençlerbirliği.  The Canaries were targeted early on by the Ankara side, who found more opportunities to fight than they did for scoring. 

Christoph Daum made some big changes to his starting lineup for the match.  With Alex de Souza out, Daum started striker Gökhan Ünal with Mehmet Topuz backing him up, along with a rare starting appearance for Deivid de Souza.  Forwards Dani Güiza and Semih Şentürk both started on the bench for Saturday's contest.

Fener got their first chance in the fifth minute on a corner kick, but their attempt was cleared away.  Two minutes later they had another promising attack when Gökhan Ünal was tripped up, giving the Canaries a free kick.  Gökçek Vederson's attempt from 29.3 meters out was far too high, however.

A 25th-minute Fener corner was aimed right at Gençlerbirliği and former Canaries' keeper Serdar Kulbilge.  By the 31st minute, neither team had found a realistic chance at a goal, with Fener going 0/3 on shots and Gençlerbirliği just 0/1.  What the Ankara side was lacking in scoring positions, they made up for in defensive tactics.  Some of those tactics were questionable at best, however, often finding Andre Santos and Gökhan Ünal as the recipients of their aggressive and sketchy play. 

Both teams had trouble creating opportunities in the first half, with too much passing in the midfield and not enough goal-scoring chances for Fenerbahçe.  Both teams were unable to create many chances resulting from that midfield passing through the first 45 minutes. 

Gençlerbirliği's Aykut Demir picked up a yellow card in the 37th minute after taking out Gökhan Gönül on a questionable challenge.  His teammate, Orhan Sam, would also pick up a yellow card in the final moments of the first half after nearly shoving Andre Santos to the ground. 

The two sides continued to battle through the end of the first half, but like early in the game, neither could find many scoring opportunities.  After a minute of stoppage time added on, the two teams headed into the break with no score. 

The second half started much like the first half ended, with few scoring chances and tensions rising.  By the 59th minute of play, the two sides had combined for 20 total fouls - 10 apiece from each team.  With so few opportunities, Christoph Daum went to his bench for the first time 57 minutes in, bringing on Semih Şentürk for Deivid de Souza. 

The Canaries had one of their best chances of the entire match in the 62nd minute.  A nice, long-range attempt from Emre Belözoğlu was too high, however.  Four minutes later, a free kick from Andre Santos was well off target.  Moments later, Christoph Daum went to his bench again, bringing on Deniz Barış for Cristian Baroni. 

A 73rd-minute Mehmet Topuz free kick from 27 meters out went way high, ending another promising opportunity for the Canaries.  Two minutes later, Emre Belözoğlu picked up a yellow card.  The Canaries had the advantage in terms of possession, controlling the ball 55% to 45%, but the increased possession time did not result in any goals for Fener. 

The final 15 minutes would give Fenerbahçe a few good chances at a goal.  One of those would take place in the 79th minute, when a Gökhan Ünal header toward goal bounced off Semih Şentürk and hit the post, then going out.  Both teams battled down the stretch, looking for one goal that would likely result in three points. 

In the 88th minute, an Andre Santos shot went high and wide.  Two minutes later, a Fener attack went off a defender for a corner, but did not result in a score.  Four minutes of stoppage time were added on as the teams continued to search for chances.  In the 92nd minute, a Gökhan Ünal shot went high, but the Canaries would find one final, promising chance in the 94th minute.  On a solid attack, some efficient passing and a volleyed ball eventually found its way to Diego Lugano right in front of Serdar Kulbilge and the Gençlerbirliği goal.  The opportunity caught Lugano off balance, however, and his shot was too high and off the mark. 

The final whistle blew on a scoreless draw in Ankara.  For Fenerbahçe, they remain just a point out of first place pending the rest of the weekend results.  The Yellow Canaries will host Gaziantepspor in league play next weekend. 

(photo courtesy of Hurriyet)

STADIUM: Ankara 19 Mayıs

REFEREES: Mustafa Kamil Abitoğlu, Selçuk Kaya, Serkan Akarca

GENÇLERBİRLİĞİ: Serdar, Orhan, Mahmut, İlhan, Aykut, Cem Can (Kerem - 82nd), Tozo, Vranjes, Harbuzi (Serkan - 85th), Sandro, Mustafa (Kahe - 82nd)

FENERBAHÇE: Volkan Demirel, Gökhan Gönül, Lugano, Bilica, Andre Santos, Deivid(Semih - 57th), Cristian (Deniz - 65th), Emre, Vederson (Özer - 80th), Mehmet Topuz, Gökhan Ünal.

YELLOW CARDS: Aykut, Orhan, Harbuzi (Gençlerbirliği), Emre (Fenerbahçe)