Kuyt revels in Fener’s special night as Iraola bemoans set-piece sloppoiness

Dirk Kuyt commemorated an unique night for Fenerbahce, as he thinks the Turkish giants showed what a “wonderful club” they remain in their win over his old group Liverpool.

Kuyt invested 6 years at Liverpool, reaching the Champions League last with them in 2007.

He lined up versus the Reds on Wednesday, as he is in interim charge of Fener.

And the Dutchman led Fener to their very first Champions League success in 18 years as Vedat Muriqi’s 79th-minute header clinched a 3-2 win.

Liverpool two times proceeded in Istanbul, through Trey Nyoni’s very first senior strike and Alexander Isak’s first Champions League objective for the Reds.

Fener two times battled back, with Mason Greenwood and Archie Brown on target before Muriqi’s very first Champions League objective settled the contest.

“It was a very special night for me and everyone who loves Fenerbahce,” stated Kuyt.

“We had some challenging times however I need to provide a huge compliment to the gamers of Fenerbahce and likewise the team member who keep pressing the gamers.

“We informed each other to stick, be unified and keep thinking in ourselves. That’s something I gained from another club that indicates a lot to me which is Liverpool, who we played tonight.

“I’m really pleased with all the gamers, all individuals included, that we made a wonder tonight since few individuals anticipated us to win. We stated before the video game that we have a possibility if we reveal enthusiasm, energy; if we stick to our video game strategy then the crowd will come behind us.

“We showed Europe what a wonderful club and what wonderful supporters that Fenerbahce has.”

Fenerbahçe 3-2 Liverpool A 5th successive away beat in the UCL for Liverpool versus a Turkish club. Fenerbahçe were 2-1 down with simply 17 minutes to go, however objectives from Archie Brown & & Vedat Muriqi turn the video game around in their favour.
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 4, 2026

Isak provided Liverpool a 2-1 lead in the 69th minute, indicating it is the current they have actually ever proceeded in a significant European video game and after that lost.

Liverpool yielded 3 objectives from set pieces in a Champions League video game for simply the 2nd time, in addition to their 3-3 draw with Sevilla in November 2017, though this was the very first time ever they have actually allowed 3 non-penalty set-piece objectives in one video game.

Which exasperated Andoni Iraola.

“The main reason that I can find for why we lost this game is we conceded from three set pieces. It’s something that we were doing very well in,” he stated.

“We understood it was among the strengths of Fenerbahce. We yield from a free-kick, a corner and even from the long toss at the end.

“They’re objectives that have actually injured us since we’ve gone two times in front after having excellent minutes, managing the video game. We’ve discovered the objectives however we have actually yielded in scenarios we need to absolutely safeguard much better.

“It’s irritating since it’s a hard location to come here and play. In the majority of parts of the video game we were believing we might win this one however certainly it hasn’t occurred.

“Especially the first goal and the third goal – the second one is a rebound – but the first one, I don’t think we set the wall properly and the last one, Muriqi wins the ball against three defenders; it’s definitely something we need to defend better.”