Fenerbahçe revived their championship aspirations with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Beşiktaş in the 34th-week derby of the Süper Lig.
In the 25th minute of the match at Ülker Stadium, Beşiktaş's al-Musrati was shown a red card for a foul on Fred, reducing Beşiktaş to 10 men, and Fenerbahçe took advantage, going ahead in the 30th minute. Michy Batshuayi, assisted by Tadic, found the net from close range to put the hosts in the lead.
The Yellow Canaries extended their lead to 2-0 in the 69th minute with a goal from Irfan Can Kahveci, but Beşiktaş narrowed the gap to 2-1 with Cenk Tosun's goal in the 82nd minute.
Despite Beşiktaş's efforts, there were no further goals, and Fenerbahçe emerged victorious from the derby with a 2-1 win.
With this result, Fenerbahçe now sit on second with 89 points, four points behind the leader Galatasaray, with four matches remaining in the season, keeping their championship hopes alive.
Michy Batshuayi, making his second start in the league this season against Beşiktaş, was the one who put Fenerbahçe in the lead in the 30th minute.
Batshuayi, who has scored in five of his last six appearances in the league, also increased his goal tally in official matches this season to 23.
Scoring his 11th goal in the Süper Lig, the 30-year-old player celebrated a total of 30 goals with 6 goals each in the Turkish Cup and the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Irfan Can Kahveci, who scored his team's second goal against Beşiktaş, found the net for the 18th time in Fenerbahçe's jersey this season.
Receiving a pass from Sebastian Szymanski inside the penalty area on the right side, Irfan Can Kahveci scored his 12th goal of the season in the league with a ground shot into the corner of the net.
Having scored six times in the UEFA Europa Conference League, the national footballer also made an impact with 12 assists, contributing to a total of 30 goals.
In the first half of the derby, Ismail Yüksek was unable to continue playing due to an injury, and head coach Ismail Kartal was forced to make two substitutions due to the three-Turkish-player rule.
Following his injury, Ismail Yüksek was substituted in the 19th minute for Rade Krunic. After Ismail Yüksek's substitution, Ferdi Kadıoğlu and Irfan Can Kahveci remained on the field as Turkish players, and Çağlar Söyüncü also joined the game as the third Turkish player, replacing Rodrigo Becao in defense.
Fenerbahçe, winning 2-1 against Beşiktaş, failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight home matches in the league.
Playing in front of their fans in 17 matches this season, Ismail Kartal's team conceded goals in only three matches, while they found themselves in the net 20 times in total in 14 matches.
Keeping a clean sheet against Galatasaray, Rizespor, and Başakşehir in matches played in front of their fans this season, Fenerbahçe bagged two victories and a single draw in these matches.
Fenerbahçe managed to win at home against Beşiktaş for the first time in three seasons.
The Yellow Canaries' recent history against Beşiktaş has been mixed.
After a 3-1 victory at home in the first half of the 2019-2020 season, they faced a draw and two defeats in the subsequent matches.
In the 2020-2021 season, Beşiktaş secured a narrow 4-3 win at Fenerbahçe's home ground.
The following season, the two teams settled for a 2-2 draw. However, in the most recent encounter, Fenerbahçe squandered a 1-0 halftime lead against 10-man Beşiktaş, eventually losing 4-2.
The Kadiköy side, who beat their rival 3-1 away in the first half of the season, ended their winless streak in front of their fans by defeating them 2-1 at home, finally pleasing their supporters.