Fenerbahce 1-1 Roma: Brown seals share of spoils as both teams return to Champions League

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 giants, 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 their 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 following 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 they 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. 

Brown brilliance stunts Gasperini's Roma

Roma came into the clash fresh from making it three wins from three in Serie A for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign, when Jose Mourinho, who also took charge of Fenerbahce, was at the helm, but they were perhaps fortunate to come away with a point here. 

In what was the first-ever meeting between the two sides, Fenerbahce looked the more likely to come away with the victory after winning the expected goals (xG) battle with a total of 1.64 from their 11 shots to Roma's 0.53 from their eight attempts. 

Fenerbahce had their moments, but a bit of individual quality from Greenwood and Brown earned them a point. It was just the second time two English players combined for a Champions League goal for a non-English club, after David Beckham assisted Jonathan Woodgate for Real Madrid against Rosenborg in October 2005.

Dybala was picked out as the danger man for Fenerbahce, having been directly involved in 12 goals in his last 16 starts in the Champions League (11 goals, one assist), and though they managed to shut him out, he was arguably Roma's most threatening attacker. 

The last Italian team to win away to a Turkish team in the Champions League remains AC Milan in November 2005 (4-0 v Fenerbahce). Since then, none of the last six to play there in the competition have won (D3 L3).