Ba brilliance spurs Beşiktaş past Partizan

• Two second half goals from Demba Ba win the game for Beşiktaş
• Gökhan Töre the architect of both Beşiktaş goals
• Partizan score first goal of campaign through Saša Marković shot
• Beşiktaş take their points tally to eight, level with Tottenham Hotspur
• Next games: Asteras v Beşiktaş, Tottenham v Partizan (27 November)

Demba Ba scored twice in the space of five second-half minutes against FK Partizan to inspire Beşiktaş JK to victory and maintain the Turkish club's neck-and-neck race for Group C supremacy with Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Winger Gökhan Töre was the architect for both of Ba's goals at the Atatürk Olympiyat Stadium, with a late strike from Saša Marković providing mere consolation for the visitors –but at least opening their UEFA Europa League account this season.

Ba struck his first from the penalty spot on 57 minutes, making no mistake following Vojislav Stanković's trip on the excellent Töre in the area. Five minutes later, the Black Eagles caught their Serbian rivals off-guard when the visitors threw caution to the wind during an attack. Oğuzhan Özyakup showed vision to start a counterattack which released Töre, and the 22-year-old charged at the final defender before finding Ba in plenty of space and able to tap in with ease.

With the win looking tightly within Beşiktaş's grasp, Partizan clawed one back, Marković sending a long-range effort to Cenk Gönen's left on 78 minutes. It was his club's first in the competition this season, yet it proved insufficient to end the Black-and-White's winless run in UEFA group stages, which now stands at 16 games. Partizan pursued last-second drama, but Gönen saved Nikola Drinčić's free-kick and Danko Lazović hit the post in a thrilling finish to the game.

The result means that Beşiktaş are now unbeaten in seven UEFA group stage outings, and it also provided a much-needed boost after back-to-back defeats in the Turkish league.