Beşiktaş's Serbian marksman Dusan Vlahovic scored a 73rd-minute winner to help his side come from behind to defeat cross-town rivals Fenerbahçe 2-1 in an intense Turkish Süper Lig derby Saturday.
The victory elevated Beşiktaş to nine points from their opening four matches of the campaign, while Fenerbahçe remained stuck on six points after suffering their second defeat in four league outings.
Beşiktaş established an aggressive tempo from the opening minute, forcing Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Ederson into making early saves.
In the 16th minute, Leandro Trossard collected a clever pass from Orkun Kökçü and tested the Brazilian shot-stopper with a curling effort from the left side of the penalty area.
Ederson was called upon again six minutes later, diving sharply to his left to parry a powerful long-range strike from Junior Olaitan.
Despite absorbing heavy early pressure from the visitors, Fenerbahçe capitalized on their first significant opportunity to open the scoring in the 26th minute.
Left-back Archie Brown launched a long throw-in deep into the penalty area, where a weak defensive clearance fell directly to Fener's Milan Skriniar.
The Slovakian defender made no mistake from close range, putting the ball past Beşiktaş goalkeeper Alexander Nübel to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Beşiktaş, however, refused to let the setback derail their rhythm and answered back in the 38th minute through a precise passing combination.
Trossard unlocked the Yellow Canaries' defense with a sharp through-ball to Rıdvan Yılmaz on the left side of the box and the Turkish international left-back slotted a low shot into the far corner to send the teams into halftime tied at 1-1.
Fenerbahçe nearly restored their advantage just before the break in the 43rd minute when Mason Greenwood produced a dazzling individual run, dribbling past both Yılmaz and Emirhan Topçu before dragging his angled shot narrowly wide of the far post.
The second half developed into an open, high-tempo affair dominated by the duel between Ederson and the Beşiktaş attack.
In the 57th minute, Olaitan threaded a pass through to Vlahovic, but Ederson rushed off his line to deny the Serbian striker in a one-on-one situation.
Fenerbahçe created their only other on-target effort of the match in the 66th minute. Ederson sent a long goal kick downfield that Kerem Aktürkoğlu flicked into the path of Vedat Muriqi, whose volley from outside the penalty area was saved by Nübel.
Just a minute later, Ederson produced another vital save to keep Fenerbahçe level, stopping substitute Ilhan Fakılı in a second one-on-one opportunity after the winger was released by Olaitan.
Beşiktaş finally broke through Ederson’s resistance to claim the winning goal in the 73rd minute off a clinical counterattack.
Olaitan initiated the move from his own half, finding Kökçü on the left flank. Kökçü drove into the penalty area and drew Ederson off his line before laying an unselfish pass across to Vlahovic, who guided the ball into the empty net.
Trossard nearly added a third for Beşiktaş in the 81st minute, but his long-range strike crashed off the frame of the goal.
Fenerbahçe struggled to create clear opportunities for an equalizer during the closing stages as the visitors held firm to secure all three points in the derby.
