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Istanbul club Fenerbahce dropped two points Monday after conceding in the 90+11th minute to draw 1-1 with Kasimpasa, missing a chance to capitalize on league leader Galatasaray’s defeat in the same round.
The Yellow Canaries struggled to assert themselves early at Chobani Stadium, with neither side breaking the deadlock before halftime. Fenerbahce stepped up the pressure after the break and pinned Kasimpasa back in its own half but failed to turn its dominance into goals for most of the second period.
The breakthrough finally came in the 90+5th minute, when Marco Asensio scored to give the home side a late advantage. However, Kasimpasa responded deep into stoppage time. After Matteo Guendouzi failed to clear the ball, Jim Allevinah found the net in the 90+11th minute, securing a draw.
Fenerbahce moved to 53 points and cut the gap to two points after Galatasaray lost 2-0 away to Konyaspor without Nigerian star Victor Osimhen, but missed the chance to further strengthen its position in the title race.
Fenerbahce also suffered additional setbacks, with multiple defenders forced off due to injuries during the match.
Turkish international center-back Caglar Soyuncu left the match in the 23rd minute after experiencing discomfort in his right upper thigh and signaling to the bench for a substitution.
Dutch defender Jayden Oosterwolde also exited the game after going down in the 38th minute and was replaced by N'Golo Kante two minutes later.
Head coach Domenico Tedesco later confirmed additional injury concerns across the squad. Goalkeeper Ederson was ruled out for three weeks, while Anderson Talisca, Fred, Alvarez, and Milan Skriniar were also dealing with physical issues.
"Caglar and Oosterwolde will be absent for a while. Ederson and Talisca also have injuries,” Tedesco said. "This is the situation we are in, but we must do our best under the current conditions."
This means those players will be unavailable for Thursday’s UEFA Europa League second-leg match against English side Nottingham Forest, after Fenerbahce lost the first leg 3-0.
Commenting on the performance, Tedesco said his team’s ongoing struggle to prevent crosses played a direct role in the late equalizer.
"This is our problem. We concede too many goals from crosses. We talk about it, we work on it, but when it comes to the pitch we cannot do it," he said. "It is not easy to stop every cross, but we must do everything to prevent them. It is a pity about today’s result, but this is the reality. The problem was allowing the cross."
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