Besiktas 2-2 Crystal Palace: Ndidi 45+2, Olaitan 73; Pino 51, Mateta 55
This result offers Crystal Palace some relief after Sunday’s 5-0 defeat at Brighton, but they will rue their failure to claim all three points.
The Eagles had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Besiktas in the Europa League after taking the lead in the second half, Yeremy Pino and Jean-Philippe Mateta’s strikes turning the tables before Wilfred Ndidi equalised for Besiktas.
Palace were then a man up for 13 minutes at the end after Umit Akdag’s red card, but Besiktas could sit back and defend.
Pierre Sage’s side started with greater purpose and put their hosts under pressure through their pressing. Mateta thought he had broken the deadlock in the first half, only for VAR to rule out his effort because of a marginal offside in the build-up.
The visitors continued to create chances. Yeremy Pino linked up with Adam Wharton, whose delivery narrowly missed Mateta, before Tyrick Mitchell dragged an effort wide. Palace also threatened from corners, with Mateta forcing Alexander Nubel into a save before heading another chance off target.
Their early control counted for little when Besiktas struck in first-half stoppage time. Yasin Ozcan sent a long ball forward that exposed a gap between Palace’s centre-backs, and Wilfred Ndidi ran through to finish low into the bottom corner.
Palace responded quickly after the break. Dwight McNeil and Anan Khalaili combined to set up Pino, who slid the ball past the goalkeeper to level the score. The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but a VAR review overturned the decision.
The visitors needed only a few more minutes to move ahead. Mateta pounced on a Besiktas mistake, drove forward and fired into the roof of the net to put Palace in front. It was a welcome return to the scoresheet for the French striker, who had not started a match since the opening day.
Sage replaced Mateta with Jorgen Strand Larsen shortly after the hour mark, with Ismaila Sarr also coming on for McNeil. The changes did not work to protect Palace’s advantage.
Besiktas found an equaliser in the 73rd minute when Junior Olaitan cut through the visiting defence and beat the diving Benitez. Palace were back on level terms despite having looked the more dangerous side for much of the contest.
Their chances of finding a winner improved four minutes later when Umit Akdag was sent off for a clumsy challenge on Strand Larsen. The Besiktas defender was shown a red card after bringing down the Norwegian forward, who was later forced off with an injury.
Palace appealed for a penalty soon after the dismissal, but the referee dismissed their claim. Eddie Nketiah replaced Strand Larsen and almost made an immediate impact, only to send his effort into the side-netting from an awkward angle.
