Kuyt’s last game in interim charge was against his old club, and Fenerbahçe twice came back to beat Liverpool 3-2
Trey Nyoni and Alexander Isak both put Liverpool ahead in Istanbul, and Vedat Muriqi’s late header won it for Fenerbahçe.
Nov 5, 2026
Dirk Kuyt’s last game as Fenerbahçe’s interim coach was against the club he played 285 games for, and he won it. Liverpool led twice at the Şükrü Saracoğlu on Wednesday night, through Trey Nyoni and then Alexander Isak, and both times Fenerbahçe pulled level within four minutes. Vedat Muriqi’s header 11 minutes from time made it 3-2 and ended Liverpool’s perfect start to the Champions League.
Fenerbahçe had appointed Emre Belözoğlu as their permanent head coach the day before the game, so Kuyt hands over with a win that few saw coming. His side had two points from three games going in. They lost 6-0 at Aston Villa last month.
Nyoni scores his first senior goal
Andoni Iraola made five changes from the side that lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal on Sunday. Nyoni, 19, met a loose ball on the edge of the box after 25 minutes, and his shot took a deflection on its way past Ederson. It was the first senior goal of his career.
The lead lasted four minutes. Irfan Can Kahveci hit the bar, then Mason Greenwood’s free-kick from around 20 yards struck Jérémy Jacquet in the wall and went in. Liverpool were glad to reach half-time level.
Isak’s first touch, then two set pieces
Iraola brought on Isak, Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo together in the 66th minute. Three minutes later Gakpo crossed to the back post and Isak headed in with his first touch.
Fenerbahçe were level again in the 73rd minute. A corner was not cleared, Gakpo and Alisson got in each other’s way, and Archie Brown was left free to put the ball in at the back post. In the 79th minute a high ball into the box found Muriqi, who climbed above the Liverpool defenders and headed into the far corner.
All three Fenerbahçe goals came from set pieces. Liverpool had 68% of the ball and 22 shots to Fenerbahçe’s 17, but both sides managed six on target.
“Cheap goals. Messy goals.”
Iraola did not blame the changes. He pointed at a free-kick, a corner and a long throw, which is not what a side that has been strong at set pieces in the Premier League expects to concede from. “They are cheap goals. They are messy goals,” he said. He also said the noise made it hard for his players to talk to each other: “In the stadium it was almost impossible to communicate because it was so noisy.”
It is the first time Iraola has lost two games in a row as Liverpool coach. They have nine points from four games and sit eighth in the league phase table, the last of the places that go straight into the round of 16, level on points and goal difference with Club Brugge and Sporting CP below them.
Fenerbahçe move to five points and 19th, in the play-off places. Liverpool go to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday, 8 November.