Fenerbahçe 3-2 Liverpool: Reds suffer first Champions League defeat

The Reds paid the price for poor defending.

Nicholas McGee

•

Last Update:

19 minutes ago • 3 min read

Fenerbahçe 3-2 Liverpool: Reds suffer first Champions League defeat

UEFA Champions League, League Stage – 4

Fenerbahçe FEN

3 – 2

Full Time

Liverpool LIV

: Chobani Stadium
: Clement Turpin

Mason Greenwood 29′ Archie Brown 73′ Vedat Muriqi 79′

Treymaurice Nyoni 25′ Alexander Isak 69′

Liverpool suffered their first Champions League defeat of the season as Fenerbahce produced a superb second-half comeback to claim a 3-2 win in Istanbul.

Looking to bounce back from Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to Arsenal, Liverpool looked on course for victory when Alexander Isak restored their lead with his first Champions League goal for the club after Mason Greenwood had earlier cancelled out Trey Nyoni’s opener.

But poor defending from the visitors allowed Archie Brown to restore parity for former Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt’s side with a far-post tap-in shortly after Isak’s goal.

And there was a final twist in the tale as Vedat Muriqi headed into the bottom-left corner to send the home fans into raptures as Andoni Iraola’s men slipped to another frustrating loss.

Victor Munoz forced a strong save from Ederson early on as Liverpool made a bright start, which was rewarded as Nyoni opened his account for the club, the teenager meeting a poor defensive header with a low strike that beat the Fener goalkeeper with the help of a deflection.

Irfan Can Kahveci then hit the crossbar for the hosts, but just moments later Fener were the beneficiaries of a significant stroke of luck as Greenwood’s free-kick took a huge deflection, leaving Alisson with no chance.

Greenwood continued to pose Liverpool significant problems, and the former Manchester United forward was denied by Alisson before half-time, though it was his compatriot Ederson who was the busier of the two goalkeepers after the restart.

The ex-Manchester City goalkeeper was required to thwart Bradley Barcola and Virgil van Dijk, but Brown delivered a reminder of the home side’s threat at the other end by testing Alisson and then dragging another effort narrowly wide.

However, the introduction of Cody Gakpo and Isak as part of three substitutions made by Iraola paid immediate dividends as the former dug out a fine cross from the left to find the Sweden striker, whose header back across goal proved too powerful for Ederson to stop.

But again Liverpool’s lead proved short-lived, with Gakpo at fault for Fener’s second equaliser.

The Dutchman failed to deal with N’Golo Kante’s ball into the box as he succeeded only in flicking it back to the far post, where Brown was on hand to tap in.

And more poor defending from Liverpool saw Fener complete the turnaround, Muriqi outmuscling three Liverpool defenders to meet Brown’s lofted ball into the box and producing a fine header that crept beyond Alisson’s outstretched arm and into the bottom corner.

Van Dijk, Gakpo and Isak all saw chances to rescue a point go begging, and Liverpool were fortunate Matteo Guendouzi did not hit the target with a long-range effort with Alisson out of his goal in the closing moments.

The defeat is unlikely to have too much significance come the end of the league phase for Liverpool, but another porous defensive showing in the Champions League served as the latest example of why they are not considered serious contenders to lift the trophy.

Fenerbahçe Liverpool

3 Goals 2

1.74 xG 1.55

32% Possession 68%

17 Total Shots 22

6 Shots on Target 6

8 Shots off Target 11

4 Corners 12

13 Fouls 12

2 Offsides 2

1 Yellow Cards 1

4 Saves 3

259 Passes 529

185 Passes Completed 475

71% Pass Accuracy 90%

Home

Away

The UEFA Champions League Table

#	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Last 4
1	Paris Saint Germain	4	4	0	0	20	5	15	12	W W W W
2	Barcelona	4	3	0	1	14	6	8	9	W L W W
3	Aston Villa	4	3	0	1	12	6	6	9	L W W W
4	Liverpool	3	3	0	0	12	7	5	9	L W W
5	Real Madrid	3	3	0	0	10	5	5	9	W W W
6	Sporting CP	4	3	0	1	8	4	4	9	W L W W
7	Real Betis	3	3	0	0	7	4	3	9	W W W
8	Bayern München	4	2	2	0	12	5	7	8	W D D W
9	Arsenal	3	2	1	0	6	2	4	7	D W W
10	VfB Stuttgart	4	2	1	1	7	4	3	7	L D W W
11	Como	3	2	0	1	10	5	5	6	W L W
12	Manchester City	3	2	0	1	9	5	4	6	W L W
13	Club Brugge KV	3	2	0	1	9	6	3	6	W W L
14	Inter	4	2	0	2	8	6	2	6	W W L L
15	Lask Linz	4	2	0	2	10	9	1	6	W W L L
16	Borussia Dortmund	3	2	0	1	5	4	1	6	W L W
17	Manchester United	4	2	0	2	8	8	0	6	W L L W
18	Galatasaray	4	2	0	2	8	9	-1	6	W W L L
19	AS Roma	4	1	1	2	10	8	2	4	L W L D
20	Shakhtar Donetsk	4	1	1	2	4	4	0	4	L L W D
21	PSV Eindhoven	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4	W L D
22	Atletico Madrid	4	1	1	2	4	5	-1	4	L D W L
23	Bodo/Glimt	4	1	1	2	4	9	-5	4	D L W L
24	Napoli	3	1	0	2	5	7	-2	3	W L L
25	Sabah FA	3	1	0	2	3	6	-3	3	L W L
26	Lens	3	1	0	2	3	7	-4	3	L L W
27	AEK Athens FC	3	1	0	2	3	8	-5	3	L L L
28	RB Leipzig	3	1	0	2	3	8	-5	3	L W L
29	Villarreal	4	1	0	3	8	14	-6	3	L L W L
30	Feyenoord	4	1	0	3	4	11	-7	3	L L W L
31	Fenerbahçe	3	0	2	1	3	9	-6	2	W D L
32	Slavia Praha	3	0	1	2	4	7	-3	1	D L L
33	Viking	3	0	1	2	5	9	-4	1	L D L
34	Lille	4	0	1	3	4	10	-6	1	D L L L
35	FC Porto	3	0	0	3	2	6	-4	0	L L L
36	Slovan Bratislava	4	0	0	4	1	17	-16	0	L L L L

Position 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/8-finals)
Position 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/16-finals)