Dirk Kuijt pulls off a shock with Fenerbahçe against old flame Liverpool

Dirk Kuijt's Fenerbahçe stunned Liverpool 3-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday. The interim manager's side fell behind 0-1 and 1-2, but fought back to take all three points.

In his usual position in central defence, Virgil van Dijk started for Liverpool, with Cody Gakpo on the bench. Ryan Gravenberch was absent through injury. For the home side, N'Golo Kanté, Archie Brown, Romelu Lukaku and Mason Greenwood were among the starters.

Rain fell in Istanbul as Liverpool took the lead after 25 minutes. Trey Nyoni tried his luck from just outside the penalty area and sent the ball into the Turkish side's goal. Shortly afterwards, Irfan Kahveci struck the crossbar for Fenerbahçe.

Pushing for a quick equaliser, Fenerbahçe appealed for a penalty after Konstantinos Tsimikas pushed Greenwood over. The referee waved away the appeal, then booked Kuijt for protesting. Fenerbahçe were level after half an hour when Greenwood's free-kick flew past the helpless Allison Becker via the wall.

Shortly before half-time, Bradley Barcola headed just wide and Allison denied Greenwood. Neither side gave an inch after the break. Ederson clawed away a Van Dijk header, while Víctor Muñoz was particularly active in Fenerbahçe's half for Liverpool.

Andoni Iraola sent on Gakpo, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. Gakpo crossed from the left and Isak headed home from close range to make it 1-2. Liverpool's lead didn't last. An inswinging cross reached Brown at the far post, and he shot into an empty net.

With Brown in front of him, Vedat Muriqi leapt high and headed the ball into the left corner. Liverpool had suffered a 0-1 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League shortly before this latest setback.