Win in Istanbul

Slavia had to replace several injured players and players missing due to yellow cards. Manager Jaroslav Köstl together with Jindřich Trpišovský – who had to stay in Prague because of health issues – opted for starting line-up with Ivan Schranz as right back, Ibrahim Traoré as defensive midfielder and Yira Sor as a striker. For Yira Sor it was maiden start in European competitions.

The Red-Whites started better and after 18 minutes Yira Sor fired wide from the left side of the box in the first chance of the game. Three minutes later Tomáš Holeš fired twice from the opposite side of the box, but Bayindir blocked his first shot and the other one was directed over the crossbar.

In the last minute of the opening half Slavia took lead. Tomáš Holeš hit post with his technical effort, the ball rebounded to Ibrahim Traoré found the back of the net with a close-range finish.

Fenerbahce haven’t really tested Mandous in the opening half, but after the break first Valencia hit the post and Yandas missed the open net with his rebound and in the 58th minute Kadioglu set up set up Pelkas who equalised with a well-placed shot with his left foot.

But Slavia quickly recovered and regained lead 4 minutes later. In a situation similar to the first goal Traoré was quicker on ball then Fenerbahce goalkeeper, one of the home defenders cleared the ball only to his left and Oscar Dorley curled the ball into the top right corner from the edge of the box.

After two more minutes Ondřej Lingr was set up by Yira Sor and face-to-face with the home goalkeeper found the back of the net to give Slavia two-goal cushion.

In the 77th minute Oscar Dorley could score his second, but finished his counter-attack with a low shot which was saved by Bayindir. On the other side Fenerbahce managed to score their second goal in the 84th minute. After a corner kick Kadioglu went past Sor and sent a shot with his right-foot which was deflected by Olayinka and the ball fell beyond Mandous.

Slavia withstood Fenerbahce pressure in the last minutes and after a dramatic second half ran out winners in Istanbul in the first leg of the knockout stage play-off. The second game is played in Prague on 24 February.