Aboubakar double takes Mensah’s Besiktas past Fenerbahce

Vincent Aboubakar scored twice as Bernard Mensah’s Besiktas defeated fierce rivals Fenerbahce 4-3 away in an ill-tempered Super Lig roller-coaster on Sunday.

Aboubakar’s double inside the opening 20 minutes, with the second goal assisted by Algeria’s Rachid Ghezzal, gave visiting Besiktas the perfect start away at Fener in the evening kick-off.

However, Senegal’s Papiss Demba Cisse pulled one back for the hosts—following Marcel Tisserand’s assist—in the 34th minute as Fenerbahce battled back into the contest.

Despite losing Canada’s Cyle Larin to a 50th-minute red card during the tempestuous showdown, Besiktas extended their lead via Necip Uysal in the 53rd minute but there was still more drama at the Ulker Stadyumu.

Ozan Tufan again reduced the arrears for Fener in the 68th minute, before Congolese wideman Fabrice N’Sakala netted Besiktas’s fourth in the 88th minute—only two minutes after replacing Ghezzal—after being set up by Franco-Cameroonian wideman Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.

Tufan netted from the spot in the sixth minute of stoppage time to give Fener feint hope of an equaliser, but the visitors ultimately saw out the tempestuous contest which saw 11 cards being issued among the playing staff and technical benches.

Aboubakar’s influence waned before his 91st-minute withdrawal, but he nonetheless took his tally up to four in seven Super Lig goals for the season, already equalling his league haul across the last two seasons combined for FC Porto.

Considering his three goals for Cameroon during the recent international break, the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winner now has six goals in his last four games for club and country, and is returning to the form he demonstrated before the injury-ravaged last few years.

Ghana playmaker Mensah had a much quieter outing before being replaced by Nkoudou in the 71st minute, struggling to find openings and failing to create a single goalscoring opportunity during the contest.

The win is Besiktas’s fourth in their last five league games, taking them up to 16 points—now only four behind Fenerbahce—after nine matches.

They’ve played one game fewer than Galatasaray and Fener—in second and third—but the same as unlikely leaders Alanyaspor, who are three points clear (on 23) at the top of the table.