Beşiktaş 4-1 Marseille: Olaitan and Kökçü drive Istanbul statement

Beşiktaş opened their UEFA Europa League league-stage campaign on 17 September 2026 with a result that will travel well beyond Istanbul: Beşiktaş 4-1 Marseille at Besiktas Park. Three points, four goals, and a message sent early.

This was not a long-running continental grudge match, but it had the weight of two big clubs who expect Europe to treat them seriously. Beşiktaş looked ready for that demand. Marseille did not.

O. Solskjær set Beşiktaş up in a 4-1-4-1, with D. Vlahović leading the line and a busy attacking midfield behind him. N. Larguet went with Marseille in a 4-2-3-1, built around P. Højbjerg and H. Abdelli in midfield, with N. Maupay ahead of A. Harit, A. Gomes and K. Abdallah.

The difference was clarity. Beşiktaş had it. Marseille lost it after half-time.

Match report

Beşiktaş had an early complication when Emmanuel Agbadou was booked in the 10th minute for a foul. It could have unsettled them. Instead, it sharpened the night.

Five minutes later, Ilhan Fakili scored in the 15th minute, assisted by Junior Olaitan. No fuss, no overcomplication, just an early Beşiktaş lead and the home crowd given exactly what it wanted.

Marseille did find a response. Keyliane Abdallah scored in the 29th minute, assisted by Himad Abdelli, and for a while N. Larguet’s side looked capable of turning the match into something awkward for the hosts. Abdallah was Marseille’s best attacking outlet, finishing with four shots, two on target, and the equaliser that briefly changed the emotional temperature.

But Beşiktaş managed the break better. O. Solskjær made the right call in the 45th minute, sending on Tiago Djaló for Emmanuel Agbadou. With Agbadou already on a yellow card, it was a clean, sensible adjustment. Risk removed, structure preserved.

Then came the three-minute punch that decided everything.

Václav Černý scored in the 56th minute, assisted by Orkun Kökçü. Marseille reacted immediately with changes in the 58th minute, as Emerson replaced Ulisses Garcia and Igor Paixão replaced Angel Gomes. But before those substitutions could settle, Beşiktaş struck again. Amir Murillo scored in the 59th minute, again assisted by Orkun Kökçü.

That was the match. Not mathematically, but emotionally and tactically. Marseille were chasing from there, and chasing badly.

Larguet tried again in the 67th minute, bringing on Amine Gouiri for Neal Maupay and Nayef Aguerd for Derek Cornelius. Solskjær answered in the 71st minute, introducing Ernest Poku for Václav Černý and Wilfred Ndidi for Orkun Kökçü. Those changes protected the centre and refreshed the front line.

Amine Harit was booked in the 72nd minute for dissent, a small but telling image of Marseille’s second-half frustration.

Then Poku delivered the final green light for Beşiktaş. Having come on in the 71st minute, he scored in the 81st minute, assisted by Junior Olaitan. Deal done.

There were late changes in the 82nd minute: Tadjidine Mmadi replaced Keyliane Abdallah for Marseille, while Beşiktaş sent on Oh Hyeon-Gyu for Junior Olaitan and Fabio Miretti for Ilhan Fakili. Miretti was later booked at 90+5 for a foul, but by then the result was locked.

Lineups and shapes

Beşiktaş, O. Solskjær, 4-1-4-1:
A. Nübel; A. Murillo, E. Agbadou, E. Topçu, K. Ouattara; S. Özcan; V. Černý, J. Olaitan, O. Kökçü, I. Fakili; D. Vlahović.

Marseille, N. Larguet, 4-2-3-1:
J. de Lange; T. Weah, C. Egan-Riley, D. Cornelius, U. Garcia; P. Højbjerg, H. Abdelli; K. Abdallah, A. Gomes, A. Harit; N. Maupay.

The tactical story was simple. Beşiktaş used the 4-1-4-1 to give themselves numbers across midfield without leaving Vlahović isolated from the game. He did not score, but his four shots and two key passes show how often he was involved in the attacking package.

The real damage came from the line behind him. Olaitan and Kökçü were the control room.

Olaitan assisted Fakili in the 15th minute and Poku in the 81st minute, while also producing three key passes and winning seven of 13 duels. He gave Beşiktaş vertical threat and connection. Kökçü, meanwhile, assisted Černý in the 56th minute and Murillo in the 59th minute. Two assists in three minutes changed the whole European opener.

For Marseille, Højbjerg had 70 passes, but too much of their possession lacked bite. Abdelli at least gave them direction, assisting Abdallah in the 29th minute and creating two key passes. But once Beşiktaş accelerated after half-time, Marseille’s 4-2-3-1 stretched and split.

The numbers

Beşiktaş did not merely win the scoreline. They won the quality of territory. Twelve of their 18 shots came from inside the box. Marseille, by contrast, had eight shots from outside the box and only three on target overall. That tells the story of a side pushed into lower-value choices.

At the back, E. Topçu was quietly excellent: 100 passes, five tackles, two interceptions and nine duels won from 10. Murillo added the goal in the 59th minute, but also gave Beşiktaş defensive reliability with four duels won from six and two interceptions.

Černý mattered before he came off. He scored in the 56th minute, had three shots, completed three of four dribbles and won five of eight duels. When Poku replaced him, Beşiktaş did not lose threat. They refreshed it.

What it means

Beşiktaş finish the first round of the league stage in 4th place, on three points with a +3 goal difference. Marseille are 32nd, with no points and a -3 goal difference.

That matters in this format. Early goal difference is not cosmetic; it is currency. Beşiktaş banked a strong opening package. Marseille now have repair work to do immediately.

For context elsewhere in the competition, Lyon also began with a win, covered here: Lyon’s Early Blitz Sinks Anderlecht in Europa League Opener.

For Solskjær, the encouraging part was not just the score. It was the timing of the decisions: Agbadou off in the 45th minute, control restored, Kökçü allowed to break the game open, Poku introduced in the 71st minute and scoring ten minutes later.

For Larguet, the concern is just as clear. Marseille had a route back through Abdallah and Abdelli, but once Beşiktaş raised the pace after the interval, the visitors had no defensive answer and no midfield control.

Next step is about reaction. Beşiktaş have momentum and a top-eight platform. Marseille need points quickly, but more than that, they need a structure that does not collapse when the match turns against them.