Fenerbahçe beat Liverpool 3-2 at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium (Chobani Stadium) on Wednesday, scoring twice in six minutes late in the second half to win a Champions League game that Liverpool had controlled for long spells.
The decisive moments
Liverpool led first. Trey Nyoni scored in the 25th minute, but Mason Greenwood levelled four minutes later to make it 1-1.
The game then stayed level until the 69th minute, when Alexander Isak put Liverpool 2-1 up from a Cody Gakpo assist.
Fenerbahçe replied quickly. Archie Brown equalised in the 73rd minute, and six minutes later he set up Vedat Muriqi for the winner in the 79th.
Brown had been booked in the 25th minute, the same minute as Nyoni's goal. He finished the match with a goal and an assist. Liverpool's only booking came late on, when Alexis Mac Allister was cautioned in the 85th minute.
What the numbers say
The statistics favour Liverpool in most areas. They had 68% of possession to Fenerbahçe's 32%, and they had 22 shots to 17. They also won 12 corners to the home side's four.
The shots on target were level at six each, and that is where the game turned. Fenerbahçe scored with half of theirs, while Liverpool scored with a third. Liverpool also had 11 shots off target to Fenerbahçe's eight, and 5 of their efforts were blocked, compared with 3 for the hosts.
It was an even contest in other respects. Fenerbahçe committed 13 fouls to Liverpool's 12, and each side was flagged offside twice.
Defensively, neither team has kept a clean sheet this season. Fenerbahçe have conceded 2.75 goals per game and Liverpool 2.5.
What it means
This was Fenerbahçe's first win of the league phase. They had drawn with Slavia Praha, lost 6-0 at Aston Villa and drawn with Roma in their previous three. They now have five points from four games, and a goal difference of minus five. That puts them 19th, in the knockout play-off places (ninth to 24th).
Liverpool had won their previous three, beating Villarreal 4-3, LASK 6-3 and Atlético Madrid 2-1. This was their first defeat of the league phase. They stay fifth on nine points with a goal difference of plus four, inside the top eight who go straight through to the last 16. PSG lead the table with 12 points from four wins.
MFF's match model had predicted a 2-1 win for Liverpool, giving them a 50% chance, with 28% for Fenerbahçe and 22% for a draw. It got this one wrong.
Add MFF as a preferred source on GoogleSee our stats first in Google's Top Stories and AI answers