Fenerbahçe Loses the Match Against Gençlerbirliği After Taking the Lead: 2-1

Fenerbahçe, visiting Gençlerbirliği in the opening week of the new Trendyol Süper Lig season, left the Eryaman Stadium with a 2-1 defeat. The yellow-and-navy blue side started the match with high pressure and took the lead in the 13th minute through a goal from Anderson Talisca, but could not maintain this advantage for long. Gençlerbirliği equalized shortly before the end of the first half with a goal from Franco Tongya, and put their stamp on the rest of the match with Oğulcan Ülgün's goal in the second half, leaving the pitch victorious.

İsmail Kartal had made extensive rotations to the squad for this away trip following the victory against Sturm Graz. Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League play-off round match against Lyon, Kartal made six changes to the starting eleven, giving Tarık Çetin the nod in goal while Nathan Ake made his first league appearance. İrfan Can Kahveci, returning from his loan spell at Kasımpaşa, wore the Fenerbahçe jersey again after 314 days.

Speaking after the match, İsmail Kartal said the result was a defeat they never expected. Noting that the first goal came from their own mistakes and the second was conceded at a moment when they were caught off guard, Kartal stated that the opponent closed out the game by fighting harder in the second half. Kartal also claimed there were two penalty situations that should have been given in their favor, and apologized to the fans.

With this result, İsmail Kartal's 33-match unbeaten away streak at the helm of Fenerbahçe came to an end for the first time since 2015, when he suffered his last away defeat also against Gençlerbirliği. His 27-match unbeaten streak in the league also ended with the same match. Fenerbahçe thus started a season with a defeat for the first time in 10 years. Next week in the league, Fenerbahçe will host Konyaspor at home, while Gençlerbirliği will face Göztepe away.