At the Antalya Stadyumu, Fenerbahçe met Antalyaspor under the leadership of Fenerbahce legend Alex de Souza on matchday 7 of the Süper Lig. Coach José Mourinho’s approach was clear: a win was essential to shorten the gap to the top of the table and thus underline their championship ambitions. The outstanding goalscorer Dušan Tadić and an own goal from the home team secured Fenerbahçe an important victory.
Sofyan Amrabat celebrates his starting eleven debut in the Süper Lig
The first half started with high intensity, with both teams fighting for control of the game. Antalyaspor also strived to collect points that evening and showed full commitment from the start. Fenerbahçe started with almost the same starting eleven as in the derby against Galatasaray. Only Sofyan Amrabat moved into defensive midfield for Fred and celebrated his starting eleven debut.
Mert Müldür surprised Antalyaspor’s defense with a sharp cross in the second minute of the game. Goalkeeper Kenan Pirić, who was charging out, collided with defender Mert Yılmaz. In the chaos, Szymański got the ball completely free in the goal area, but had problems controlling it properly. Instead of pushing it over the line, Veysel Sari pushed the ball out of the danger area a hair’s breadth from the goal line. It remained 0-0!
In the 12th minute of the game, Jakub Kaluzinski took heart and shot from 25 meters. The ball was shot well, and Djiku also deflected it unluckily. The ball hit the post and the stadium held its breath – an extremely close scene that almost gave Antalyaspor the lead.
As the half progressed, Fenerbahce’s initial dominance subsided and the game developed into a competitive game with chances for both sides.
Fenerbahçe tried to actively control the game and used quick advances, mostly through the dynamic Allan Saint-Maximin, to get into dangerous positions. His quick runs and dribbling repeatedly put Antalyaspor’s defense in trouble. But there was a lack of precision in the final third of the pitch and the crucial passes or finishes were too imprecise to achieve the desired goal.
Shortly before the half-time whistle, Fenerbahçe had a great opportunity to take the lead. After a perfectly timed pass from Dušan Tadić, Edin Džeko found himself in a promising position. Antalyaspor goalkeeper Kenan Pirić, who showed an outstanding performance that evening, was able to save his shot and thus prevent his team from falling behind.
Mourinho unpacks his laptop – Fenerbahce cracks tireless Antalyaspor!
At the beginning of the second half, Fenerbahçe clearly had a preponderance of chances, but continued to carelessly squander several chances.
In the 63rd minute of the game the time had finally come. After Szymański won the ball, the fast-reacting Fred made a clever pass to the incoming Tadic. He took advantage of his 1-on-1 situation and beat Kenan Pirić with a precise shot into the short right corner to make it 1-0!
In the 79th minute of the game, José Mourinho curiously placed his laptop in front of the on-field camera to alert the referee to an alleged wrong decision. This action was acknowledged by the referee with a yellow card for the Portuguese. Then in the 81st minute of the game, Fenerbahçe increased to 2-0! Substitute Kostić broke through on the left and crossed precisely into the penalty area to serve En-Nesyri. But the ball bounced unfortunately off the head of Antalyaspor defender Thalisson into his own goal and sealed the outcome of the evening.
With this important victory, Fenerbahçe not only secured three valuable points in the fight for the championship, but also a good deal of self-confidence for the upcoming Euorpa League game against FC Twente Enschede on Thursday. The fans can look forward to an exciting duel!
