Fenerbahce had the win in their hands and let it go. Two goals up inside 11 minutes against Slavia Prague, they were pegged back and then caught in the 90th minute by a substitute who had never scored a senior goal. The 2-2 draw in Istanbul leaves the Turkish side on two points from three Champions League games.
A Flying Start in Istanbul
The home crowd had barely settled when Oguz Aydin cut in from the right in the fourth minute, took aim from 25 yards and curled a left-footed shot into the top left corner. It was a sublime finish and it looked like the antidote to last week's 6-0 hammering by Aston Villa.
Seven minutes later it was two. Nelson Semedo played the ball to Mason Greenwood, who controlled it with his left foot and fired in with his right. It was Greenwood's seventh goal of the season, and a neat piece of finishing at the end of a slick move.
The Mistake That Changed the Night
Fenerbahce wanted a first win in the Champions League proper since they beat Chelsea in the first leg of a 2008 quarter-final, and for a quarter of an hour it seemed they would get one without much fuss. Then came the error. In the 15th minute Matteo Guendouzi tried to play out from the back, misplaced his pass, and Lukas Provod was on it, finishing first time to put the visitors back in the game.
The hosts spurned good chances to restore their two-goal cushion. Slavia, buoyed by the early goal, kept pushing through the second half, and the pressure finally told late on.
Kacor's Volley Settles It
Pavel Kacor, a 20-year-old substitute, met Emmanuel Ayaosi's cross in the 90th minute with an acrobatic volley, getting his boot high enough to beat former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson. It was his first senior goal for the club, and it gave the Czech side their first point of this Champions League campaign.
For Fenerbahce, it is a bitter evening. They had the lead, the crowd and the momentum, and they gave it away with one loose pass and a lack of killer instinct. Two points from three games is a thin return for a big-spending side, and the pressure will now be on to find a win in the next round of fixtures.
Match facts: Fenerbahce 2-2 Slavia Prague, UEFA Champions League league phase, Istanbul, Tuesday 20 October 2026. Goals: Aydin 4', Greenwood 11' (Fenerbahce); Provod 15', Kacor 90' (Slavia Prague). Fenerbahce have two points from three games; Slavia have one point.
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