MD 16: FC ISTANBUL 1-1 ATHENS KERBEROS

✍️ Written by: Domenico Jordano

For the 3rd time in FSL history, the diehard enemies — Istanbul and Athens — were facing each other in an Aegean derby. Both their previous encounters ended up with 1-1 draws, but it's the Turks who got an additional point in the League Cup penalties. Now the Greeks were going to turn the scales on their side, but the stadium filled with yellow-green fans didn't make it easier.

Nothing special happened in the first 30 minutes of the game. It looked like the Mediterranean Teams were looking for another draw. The away side tried to threaten Brodie Williamson's goal, but it was resultless. Finally, in the 40th minute, Jojo Wolfy's inaccurate header let Darwizleton Dingle go on a 1v1 duel with the Athens goalkeeper, who had no chance to save his team from conceding and opener. Nikolas Alexopulous almost equalized the score right afterwards, but his ball hit the post and sent the players on a half-time break.

In the 57th minute, Nikolas Aleksopulous used his rocket speed to beat Istanbul's defender and send an easy goal into Brodie Williamson's net. Déjà vu moment: 1-1 on the scoresheet again! By the 80th minute, the game turned into a real battle, with players from both sides doing harsh tackles and fouling continuously on their rivals to win the ball. In the final proceedings, all the players were looking exhausted, despite the Ottomans' attack refreshment. Nobody had a momentum to go out and score the winning goal, so the two sides decided to keep the good old tradition and finish the game 1-1.

Darwizleton Dingle is celebrating his debut goal, and Nikolas Aleksopulous keeps his wonderful season start. But neither of the newcomers was able to put an end to the rivalry tracing back to centuries ago.