Fenerbahçe fight back to end Liverpool’s perfect Champions League start

Fenerbahçe fought back to beat Liverpool 3-2 in Istanbul on Wednesday 4 November, in the fourth round of the Champions League league phase. Trey Nyoni opened the scoring for the visitors, Mason Greenwood equalised, then Alexander Isak restored the Reds’ lead after the break. Archie Brown and Vedat Muriqi ultimately turned the game around. The result, confirmed by The Guardian’s live coverage and the competition’s results page, ends Liverpool’s run of three opening European wins and gives Fenerbahçe their first victory after three winless rounds.

Liverpool score, but do not take control

The first goal came in the 25th minute: under pressure from Virgil van Dijk, Archie Brown headed the ball clear into the middle, and Nyoni struck it in the box. The Turkish response was swift. Four minutes later, Greenwood took a free-kick whose trajectory, deflected by Jérémy Jacquet, wrong-footed Alisson. These passages of play and the rest of the match are covered in The Guardian’s minute-by-minute report and beIN Sports’ live coverage.

The first-half pattern explains why the opening goal did not put the English side at ease. Fenerbahçe found space to attack and created several chances, including a header from İrfan Can Kahveci that hit the crossbar, according to beIN. The Guardian describes an eventful first half in which Liverpool struggled to contain their opponents’ attacks and turn spells of possession into sustained control. The equaliser from a free-kick therefore punished a vulnerability that had already been apparent, even if the deflection played a part in the goal.

Isak puts the Reds back in front, Brown responds immediately

In the 69th minute, Liverpool took the lead again after bringing on Florian Wirtz, Isak and Cody Gakpo in a triple substitution. Gakpo crossed from the left and Isak, who had come on moments earlier, headed home from close range. But the Istanbul side responded quickly once more: in the 73rd minute, N’Golo Kanté’s cross was deflected by Gakpo in front of his goalkeeper, and Brown pounced on the ball to equalise.

The equaliser blunted the impact of the change in tempo Andoni Iraola had tried to bring about. Liverpool had introduced attacking players, but the team did not close down the space after taking the lead again. In the 79th minute, Brown crossed from the right and Muriqi, who had come on in place of Romelu Lukaku, headed the ball into the corner of the net. The Guardian’s account duly credits Brown with the cross and Muriqi with the header, while the match timeline confirms Fenerbahçe’s three goalscorers.

The Reds’ pressing did not protect their defence

Before the match, Opta Analyst’s analysis highlighted Liverpool’s highly productive start in Europe: 12 goals and nine points from three matches, but also seven goals conceded. That contrast between attacking output and defensive exposure was evident in Istanbul. The Reds scored twice again, but could not neutralise their opponents’ attacks or protect their lead after making changes.

However, it would be excessive to reduce the defeat to a single weakness. The equalising free-kick took a deflection, the second Turkish goal came from a chaotic move in the box, and Fenerbahçe benefited from the energy of their supporters and their substitutes. But the third goal, a cross followed by a Muriqi header, also showed how much time and space Liverpool allowed their opponents to build the move. The result thus gives immediate consequences to the defensive difficulties, without being enough on its own to determine their tactical cause.

A win that revives Fenerbahçe, a warning for Liverpool

For Fenerbahçe, the win is especially significant after a difficult start to the league phase. The club began with a draw against Roma, suffered a heavy defeat at Aston Villa, then shared the points with Slavia Prague. The 4 November victory brings three points and ends their winless run in the competition, as can be verified in the UEFA team-by-team fixtures overview. It does not, however, settle the question of consistency: the league phase continues, and this result guarantees no qualification.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have lost their perfect record after winning their first three matches, all of them high-scoring. The defeat underlines that the attack can still deliver, but goals scored do not automatically make up for chances conceded. The next test will be whether this proves to be a blip in a European campaign that had been all victories so far, or whether the difficulties in protecting a lead return in the matches to come. For Fenerbahçe, the challenge is the reverse: to turn this landmark performance into consistency. An important win, then, but not yet a definitive answer for either side.