October 22 2026

Besiktas 2-2 Palace

Crystal Palace were denied victory in a thrilling Europa League 2-2 draw with Besiktas.

The Eagles thought they had made the perfect start when Jean-Philippe Mateta finished a flowing move after six minutes, only for VAR to rule out his effort for a marginal offside.

Besiktas instead took the lead right on the half-time whistle when former Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi raced unchallenged onto Salih Ozcan's pass and calmly beat Walter Benitez.

Palace emerged strongly after the interval and equalised in the 51st minute through Yeremy Pino, whose close-range finish from Anan Khalaili's cross was initially disallowed before VAR overturned the offside decision.

Just four minutes later, Mateta punished a misplaced defensive pass with a powerful angled strike to complete a remarkable turnaround and register his first goal of the season.

The visitors looked capable of securing a much-needed victory, but substitute Junior Olaitan restored parity in the 73rd minute with a fine effort from outside the penalty area.

Besiktas were subsequently reduced to 10 men when Umit Akdag was dismissed for a reckless challenge on Jorgen Strand Larsen, who later departed injured.

Palace pushed for a winner and appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty after Daichi Kamada went down inside the area, but the Turkish side held firm.

The draw gave Sage's under-pressure team their fourth Europa League point of the campaign and offered some encouragement after a difficult run of results.

Besiktas: Nubel, Bulut (Murillo 64), Djalo, Akdag, Ouattara, Trossard, Miretti (Ozcan 39), Ndidi, Yilmaz (Olaitan 64), Fakili (Cerny 75), Oh Hyeon-Gyu (Vlahovic 75).

Not used: Dogan Alemdar, Agbadou, Poku, Ridvan Yilmaz, Emirhan Topcu, Yasin Ozcan, Semih Kilicsoy.

Palace: Benitez, Richards, Disasi, Canvot, Khalaili, Kamada, Wharton, Mitchell, Pino (Osorio 72), McNeil (Sarr 61), Mateta (Strand Larsen 61 (Nketiah 85)).

Not used: Matthews, Benetton, Ahanor, King, Mingueza, Chilwell, Benamar, Hughes.