Fenerbahçe and Royal Antwerp balanced each other on Thursday evening. Halfway through, the Turkish formation enjoyed a 2-1 lead, which was rendered harmless after more than an hour of play by coach Brian Priske’s team: 2-2. Enner Valencia was the most notable name on the home side, as he scored twice but also shot a panenka on the crossbar. The position in Group D of the Europa League will not change for the time being. Antwerp remains behind with one point, while Fenerbahçe is third with one point more. Later in the evening, the respective numbers one and two, Olympiacos Pireaus (six points) and Eintracht Frankfurt (four points), will meet in the battle for the lead.
Antwerp, which appeared at the kick-off without the injured Radja Nainggolan, already took the lead in the second minute of play. On the right side of the field, Viktor Fischer took possession of the ball after a nice cross from behind. The former Ajax player rushed into the sixteen-meter area and delivered a successful wide pass to Mbwana Samatta, who tapped in from close range: 0-1. It took until the 21st minute of play before Fenerbahçe came up with a serious counter-punch. That first big chance immediately resulted in a goal.
After a corner kick from the left, Marcel Tisserand appeared at the near post and fired on the enemy goal with a firm header. Goalkeeper Jean Butez was able to turn the defender’s effort, but he was unable to answer Valencia’s shot from the rebound: 1-1. The latter had an absolute leading role, as it turned out in the ten minutes before the halftime signal. In the 37th minute, the wing striker was able to score from eleven meters for the 2-1, but he failed conspicuously. In an attempt to blame Butez, Valencia took a panenka; however, his striking penalty hit the crossbar.
On the stroke of the halftime signal, Valencia got a second chance from the penalty spot. This time he did hit the mark and Butez was passed in the bottom left corner. After an opening phase in the second company in which both teams were evenly matched, Antwerp came alongside in the 62nd minute. Birger Verstraete placed the ball from a corner from the right at the first post, where Pieter Gerkens stood to nod in. The score on the scoreboard did not change after that: 2-2.