A last minute goal by Fabian Ernst gave Beşiktaş a 1-0 win in their UEFA Europa Group L opener at Istanbul BJK Inonu Stadium.

The match started at a fast pace with the Eagles, spurred on by the crowd, making most of the early exchanges. They came close to grabbing an early lead, but close-range efforts from Tabata and Holosko just missed the target. As the half rolled on, the Black and Whites took the game completely to the CSKA but failed to create too many clear-cut chances inside box due to a stubborn Bulgarian defence that absorbed the pressure well. After sustaining a knee-injury, the Eagles’ defender Ferrari was replaced by İbrahim Toraman in the 37th minute. Unable to score, the teams carried a clean sheet into the half time.
Beşiktaş came out fighting again in the second half with some imaginative play in midfield and dangerous crosses from both flanks, while the visitors looked content to stay in their own half and go for a draw. Following a couple of early Mert Nobre misses, the match turned into a nightmare for the visitors’ defence as relentless waves of Beşiktaş attacks put them on their heels. But the Black and White still couldn’t get on the scoresheet, this time, because of an outstanding goalkeeping by CSKA’s keeper M’Bolhi. Nevertheless, the Eagles did not give up and kept coming for that precious goal. But they did it in an organized way and with no panic, a new feature of Beşiktaş under Schuster’s management. Late substitutions of forwards Quaresma and Bobo for Holosko and Tabata made them look even more formidable upfront. Meanwhile, a few CSKA counterattacks resulting from the occasional gaps attacking Eagles left behind caused no serious problem for the home side’s keeper Hakan Arıkan. Just as everyone was thinking that the match would end in a goalless draw, the Black and White won a free-kick from the right flank. Guti found Fabian Ernst’s head with a pinpoint cross, and the German midfielder coolly headed the ball into the net over the keeper to earn a 1-0 win and all three points for Beşiktaş in his team’s Europea League group opener.