Faced with a daunting three-goal deficit after last week’s heavy first-leg defeat in Istanbul, Anderlecht knew a fast start was imperative against their Turkish opponents.
It was Fenerbahçe, however, who flew out of the traps and opened the scoring inside four minutes, with Edin Džeko capitalising on a mistake from Lucas Hey to unselfishly set up Youssef En-Nesyri for a simple close-range finish.
The match was suspended for a 20-minute period shortly afterward following crowd trouble, and the hosts found the perfect response upon the resumption when İrfan Eğribayat’s mistimed kick was pounced on by Luis Vázquez, who tapped into the empty net.
Buoyed by that goal, Anderlecht went in pursuit of a second before HT but Eğribayat atoned for his earlier mishap, saving smartly from Theo Leoni and César Huerta to keep the visitors level on the night.
The Belgian side carried their momentum into the early stages of the second half, although they spurned a glorious opportunity to pull another goal back when Ali Maamar dragged an effort wide when well-placed in the box.
Undeterred, Anderlecht continued to probe and their pressure was duly rewarded in the 55th minute as Vázquez swept home from Thorgan Hazard’s cutback for his second of the evening.
Nevertheless, any hopes of a miraculous turnaround were soon dispelled when Fenerbahçe restored their three-goal cushion through Yusuf Akçiçek, who nodded Milan Škriniar’s header back across goal into the bottom corner.
That goal ultimately ended the tie as a contest, as despite Leander Dendoncker going close with a long-range free-kick, the visitors eased through the closing stages to extend their unbeaten H2H run to six games (W4, D2) and seal their place in Friday’s draw.