Fenerbahce salvages draw with Roma
Roma and Fenerbahce were forced to share the spoils on their returns to the Champions League as they played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Istanbul.
The Serie A giant, playing in the competition for the first time since 2018-19, took the lead late in the first half when Bryan Cristante fired a brilliant effort past Ederson.
But an early second-half goal from Archie Brown helped Fenerbahce take a point from its first Champions League match since December 2008 against Dynamo Kyiv.
Backed by a raucous crowd inside Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Fenerbahce made a fast start with Bartug Elmaz and Kerem Akturkoglu drawing smart saves out of Mile Svilar.
Roma eventually got a foothold in the game and almost took the lead with their first shot on target, with Manu Kone winning back possession before slipping in Paulo Dybala, but his right-footed strike from a tight angle was parried by Ederson.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side then took the lead in the 38th minute through their captain Cristante, who after collecting Donyell Malen's pass on the edge of the box, picked out the bottom-left corner.
However, Fenerbahce needed just three minutes after the restart to draw level, with Mason Greenwood's pass finding Brown, who dinked the ball over the onrushing Svilar.
Vedat Muriqi should have put Fenerbahce ahead moments later after he was played in by N'Golo Kante after a lung-busting run from deep, but the Fenerbahce forward was thwarted by the feet of the Roma goalkeeper.
Greenwood then struck the side-netting as Fenerbahce's grip on the match tightened, though Roma felt it should have been awarded a penalty when Dybala was tripped on the edge of the area by Akturkoglu, with a free-kick given instead.
Devyne Rensch produced a perfectly timed challenge to stop Oguz Aydin from having a shot on goal, with Dybala cutting inside but failing to beat Ederson at the other end.
Fenerbahce almost snatched all three points right at the death, but Brown could only head Levent Mercan's teasing free-kick onto the crossbar, with neither side able to find a winning goal in the minutes that remained.
Archibald Norman Brown
Fenerbahçe SK
