Cup glee for Galatasaray

By Türker Tozar

Galatasaray SK have won the Turkish Cup for the 14th time in their history by defeating Turkish Superleague leaders and city rivals Fenerbahçe SK 5-1 in the final at the Atatürk Olympic stadium.

Ribéry magic
The first half saw Franck Ribéry's magic work for Galatasaray as the French midfield player opened the scoring on 16 minutes with a powerful left-foot drive before providing Necati Ates the chance to score the second goal.

Luciano reply
On 38 minutes a Deniz Baris own goal seemed to signal the end of Fenerbahçe's hopes of lifting the trophy. However, Brazilian defender Fabio Luciano pulled a goal back just three minutes later to close the deficit before the interval.

Sükür strikes
The opening stages of the second period were less evenful, before veteran striker Hakan Sükür then struck twice in the final 20 minutes, finding the net on 71 and 88 minutes, to put the result beyond any doubt.

History repeats
Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe's 22-year Turkish Cup drought continued with their fourth final defeat at the hands of Galatasaray. The two sides will meet again in a Turkish Superlegue fixture in Sükrü Saracoglu stadium in ten days.