Mourinho pleased as Fenerbahçe make winning start in Türkiye

Fenerbahçe 1-0 Adana Demirspor

José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe won on the opening round of the new Turkish Super Lig season, beating Adana Demirspor thanks to Edin Dzeko’s first-half strike.

The victory and performance, which impressed Mourinho, was a fine warm-up for Tuesday’s crucial Champions League qualifier second-leg against French outfit Lille in Istanbul.

The hosts were bright in the first half, with new recruit Allan Saint-Maximin exciting the Fener fans with some dazzling runs from the left. Indeed, the Frenchman was responsible for setting up the only goal of the game when he found Bosnian veteran Dzeko, who stroked the ball past Adana goalkeeper Deniz Dönmezer on 34 minutes.

Although Fener were unable to add to the scoreline, Mourinho saw enough on opening day to be satisfied with the performance. “The only thing that didn’t happen today was the goals,” he said. “Because when you look at the game we displayed in the first 60-65 minutes, the result should have been completely different. We missed too many chances.

“We also missed what I call half chances, by which I mean in the final third we couldn’t do the right things technically in the last pass and decisions. But we were the dominant side throughout the match. We deserved a different result. After a certain minute, the team physically decreased. Because Maximin is not in a condition to play 90 minutes. Same goes for İrfan. We are constantly playing with İsmail and Szymanski in the midfield.

“Therefore, the team physically decreased a little in the last part. This was something we didn’t want, but we managed to get the victory we deserved today, and when we look at the result, we deserved even more.”

While getting off to a victorious start in the league is a positive, the more significant match for Mourinho’s men comes on Tuesday. The Turks come into the second leg of their Champions League qualifier with Lille trailing 2-1 from the first meeting in France. Mourinho will be desperate to advance to the final play-off to secure a place in Europe’s premier club competition.

By @SeanGillen9