Liverpool’s Champions League opponents on Wednesday have offered a fresh glimpse of what awaits Andoni Iraola’s side in Istanbul, after a former Anfield favourite took charge of Fenerbahçe for the first time on Saturday evening against Göztepe at the Chobani Stadium.
The new man had only been in the role since Wednesday, when he stepped up from his position as assistant following İsmail Kartal’s resignation in the wake of the derby defeat by Galatasaray, and he made two changes from that game, one of them enforced, handing young centre back Kojo Oppong his first start for the club.
For much of the evening the plan appeared to be working, as Fenerbahçe dominated the ball with 66% of possession and completed 442 of their 530 passes, more than double Göztepe’s total of 258, while Oğuz Aydın and Romelu Lukaku both forced saves from goalkeeper Arda Özçimen.
The breakthrough arrived in first half stoppage time, when a long ball forward bounced off Noah Sonko Sundberg and fell kindly for Lukaku, who teed up Mattéo Guendouzi to give the hosts a deserved lead at the break.
That made for a promising start for Dirk Kuyt, the former Liverpool forward who scored 71 goals in 285 appearances during six years at Anfield before spending three seasons as a player at Fenerbahçe, but the second half turned sharply against him.
Göztepe, who arrived on a run of three straight league wins under Stanimir Stoilov, struck twice in the space of two minutes, as Sinclair Armstrong latched on to a ball that broke in behind the defence to equalise in the 76th minute before André Henrique headed in Tino Anjorin’s corner in the 78th.
Despite finishing with 18 attempts to Göztepe’s 12, Fenerbahçe could not find a way back, with both sides landing six shots on target, and the defeat by two goals to one leaves them fifth on 16 points, nine behind leaders Galatasaray after back to back league losses, while Göztepe extended their winning run to four and moved within a point of their hosts.
For Kuyt there is little time to dwell on it, because his next assignment is a reunion with the club where he became a cult hero, with Liverpool arriving at the Chobani Stadium on Wednesday for a Champions League meeting with a Fenerbahçe side who have taken just two points from their opening three games in the competition.
How quickly he can tighten a defence that has conceded twice in each of its last two league matches, and nine times in three European outings, may go a long way to deciding whether his spell in charge lasts beyond the next international break, the period the club have given him while they search for a permanent successor.
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