Istanbul pair prevail on penalties

By Türker Tozar

Galatasaray SK and Fenerbahçe SK will meet in the Turkish Cup final after semi-final victories against Trabzonspor and Denizlispor respectively.

Penalties drama
Galatasaray were the first of the Istanbul rivals to go through, defeating Trabzonspor 5-3 on penalties on Wednesday night following a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes at the Ali Sami Yen stadium.

Late equaliser
Galatasaray had the better of a first half in which Orhan Ak headed against the crossbar, but fell behind in the second as the Black Sea club improved with the introduction of Guinean midfielder Ibrahima Yattara. Superleague top scorer Fatih Tekke gave the visitors a 56th-minute lead, nodding in a Yattara corner. However, in the 89th minute, after Celaleddin Koçak had missed a one-on-one with Galatasaray goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón, Necati Ates followed up to score after Trabzonspor keeper Michael Petkovic had parried a Hasan Kabze effort.

Sas winner
Following a goalless additional 30 minutes, Hasan Sas converted the winning penalty after Mehmet Yilmaz and Miroslaw Szymkowiak had missed for Trabzonspor.

Another shoot-out
Fenerbahçe also required spot-kicks to join their neighbours in the final - overcoming Denizlispor 6-4 in a shoot-out at their Sükrü Saraçoglu stadium on Thursday evening. The home side had to play most of the 120 minutes with just ten men following the 17th-minute dismissal of defender Ümit Özat. Denizlispor then broke the deadlock through Fatih Egedik's long-range strike 15 minutes into extra time, but soon after Fenerbahçe's Fabio Luciano capitalised on a defensive error to equalise.

Abortive attempts
Fatih Egedik and Güven Varol missed penalties for the Aegean team, and although Nicolas Anelka did likewise for the Superleague leaders, Alex, Marco Aurélio, Önder Turaci and Mehmet Yozgatli found the net to send Fenerbahçe through.