With both teams needing a win to qualify for the next stage of the UEL, it was unsurprising that those in attendance witnessed a nervy start that saw few chances for either side.
The hosts had the better of the half chances that did come, with Michel Vlap and Ricky van Wolfswinkel sending efforts narrowly wide from the edge of the area.
Wolfswinkel in particular had an opening 45 minutes to forget, missing a golden opportunity to give his side the lead, when he missed an open goal with a header after getting on the end of Sayfallah Ltaief’s powerful cross.
Nearly going behind woke the visitors up, and they came close to taking the lead themselves through the unlikely source of left-back Arthur Masuaku, who forced Lars Unnerstall to tip his well-struck effort around the post.
The visitors then had the better of the closing stages of the first half but more poor finishing – this time in the form of Ciro Immobile’s close-range header going wide - meant it was ultimately goalless at the break.
Twente had won their last three league games at home, and they started the second half like a side boasting that record, putting a string of passes together before putting Daan Rots in on goal, only for the winger to blast an effort over. This was followed up by Sem Steijn crashing an effort off the post after being put through on goal by Ltaief.
Twente then deservedly opened the scoring 15 minutes from time when sloppy Besiktas defending allowed Anass Salah-Eddine to pick out Rots in the area, who supplied a superb first-time finish to open the scoring.
After going ahead, the Tukkers made it clear they were only interested in defending their lead rather than extending their advantage, and this tactic worked. Twente confidently saw out the game to claim a vital three points, which saw them progress to the last 16 stage of the UEL.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Daan Rots (FC Twente)