Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage saw the pressure on him relieve slightly, after a hard-fought Europa League draw out in Turkey.
Palace thought they had made a rip-roaring start when Jean-Philippe Mateta slotted home inside the area after a fine move, only to see VAR intervene and rule it out for offside.
That didn’t deter the Eagles who continued to venture forward at will. Again, Mateta was put through and the flag was again raised although this time he fired just wide of goal. The returning French striker could easily have had a hat-trick on another night, firing a fierce shot straight at Besiktas goalkeeper Alexander Nübel just before the half-hour mark.
Then, right at the end of the half, the visitors suffered a sucker punch. Former Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi produced a fine finish after a defence-splitting pass from Salih Ozcan picked his run out.
It was harsh on Sage’s men but their response was swift. Barely six minutes after the restart they were back on level terms through Yeremy Pino. He stretched to convert a cross from Anan Khalaili and although the offside flag was raised, this time VAR did Palace a favour and overturned the decision.
And it got even better just a couple of minutes later as Mateta picked up on a poor, undercooked pass back from a Besiktas defender and rifled home a fierce effort to put the London side 2-1 up.
The hosts restored parity with just under 20 minutes left when Junior Olaitan found the bottom corner with a fine strike from outside the area. Then came a flashpoint when Besiktas were reduced to ten men after Umit Akdag was given his marching orders for a reckless tackle on Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Palace couldn’t make their advantage pay in the latter stages, though, as spoils were shared.
Sage reflected: “I am happy with the performance now, with the result we deserve better.
“We have to remember the situation before the game, the performance was worse on Sunday, we made a good step and now to go forward and win against Newcastle on Sunday.”
On Mateta, he added: “I am really happy for him. It’s a good moment for him, just before coming out, he was not really ready to play, you could then see he was tired but when you have this mindset and give your life on the pitch it is good for you.
“We have a lot of satisfaction in individual performances and I have to underline the team performance, too. At the end, we made a good game without the result we deserved.”
