Mass brawl on the pitch! Istanbul derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce spirals completely out of control after the final whistle

The Istanbul derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce was followed by extremely ugly scenes after the final whistle.

Players from both teams clashed while still on the pitch, with trouble first escalating into a scuffle between Fenerbahce's Kerem Aktürkoglu and former Bundesliga player Roland Sallai of Galatasaray.

Shortly afterwards, Gala captain Abdülkerim Bardakci clashed with opposition player Archie Brown. The Fenerbahce defender pulled the Turk to the ground, forcing security personnel to step in. More people joined the mass brawl, and the two sides proved difficult to separate.

Aktürkoglu and Sallai escaped with yellow cards, but referee Atilla Karaoglan showed Bardakci and Brown red cards after the final whistle.

"Your captain pulled Matteo Guendouzi's hair. I saw it and defended him. They scratched as well," Brown later told journalists in the tunnel, showing them a scratch wound as he explained his outburst.

Gala captain Bardakci, meanwhile, said Brown had acted aggressively first and that he had merely defended himself. "If you watch the video, you'll see who attacked first."

How did the match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce end?

For most of the 90 minutes before the brawl, the Istanbul derby had been largely peaceful, apart from a minor confrontation involving several players after just twelve seconds. Referee Karaoglan showed players from both teams "only" nine yellow cards, including the cautions after the match.

Galatasaray came out on top on the pitch. After star striker Victor Osimhen scored twice in the first half (29th and 44th minutes), Fenerbahce could only pull one back through an overhead kick from Irfan Kahveci (62nd minute). Neither former Bayern Munich star Leroy Sane nor Ilkay Gündogan started, although Sane came on in the 80th minute.