Champions League: Liverpool's unbeaten run ends with defeat versus Fenerbahce
Despite taking two separate leads through goals from Trey Nyoni and Alexander Isak, poor defending allowed the Turkish side to mount a late comeback. The loss marks Liverpool's first defeat of their European campaign, halfway through their eight league phase games.
Match highlights Nyoni and Greenwood trade goals In a surprising move, Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola made five changes to the squad that lost to Arsenal three days earlier. Among the starters was 19-year-old Trey Nyoni, who scored his first professional goal with a deflected volley that beat Ederson.
However, Fenerbahce equalized quickly through Mason Greenwood 's free-kick, which took a big deflection off Jeremy Jacquet and left Alisson stranded in goal. Substitution success Defensive errors cost Liverpool dear in the 2nd half Iraola brought on Isak, Florian Wirtz, and Cody Gakpo to regain the lead.
The move paid off almost immediately as Gakpo's cross found Isak inside the six-yard box. The Swedish striker made no mistake with his first touch after coming on, restoring Liverpool's lead in the 69th minute.
However, a defensive mix-up between Gakpo and Alisson allowed Fenerbahce's Archie Brown to equalize once again just four minutes later. Final blow Vedat Muriqi heads home to seal victory for Fenerbahce The game took a turn for the worse for Liverpool when Vedat Muriqi headed home from a high cross, giving Fenerbahce the lead.
This was just minutes after Brown's equalizer and sealed Liverpool's fate in Istanbul. The defeat not only ended their perfect start to the Champions League campaign but also handed Dirk Kuyt-managed Fenerbahce their first win of the season in this prestigious tournament.
Post-match analysis Iraola slams his side's defending After the match, Iraola lamented the "cheap" and "messy" goals his team conceded. He said, "We conceded from a free-kick, a corner, a long throw, and that has hurt us.
The Liverpool boss also highlighted communication issues between players during the game. Despite these setbacks, he was optimistic about their performance in offensive situations before conceding almost immediately after scoring.
Contrasting records for the Reds As per Opta, Nyoni is the youngest player in Liverpool's history to score his first goal for the club in a European Cup match (19 years, 127 days). Meanwhile, it was the latest Liverpool took the lead (69th minute - Alexander Isak to make it 2-1) in a major European match and then lost."