Besiktas Istanbul have won the Turkish Cup after a great final fight. The Black Eagles first turned the game around, but Trabzonspor came back shortly before the end – but Besiktas had an answer in stoppage time
The Black Eagles, who are having a disappointing season overall and could even miss out on the European places in the league after two draws in a row, were clearly under more pressure ahead of the 62nd Turkish Cup final. The dress rehearsal for the final against relegation candidates Hatayspor was unsuccessful.
Against Trabzonspor, who are playing a solid season in third place and have already qualified for the Europa League via the league, coach Serdar Topraktepe made a number of changes and brought seven new players into his starting eleven, including Rashica, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tosun, who had to make way for them on the bench.
Trabzonspor, who have already won the cup twice and the Super Cup three times at the Atatürk Stadium and have never lost there, played unchanged from the weekend and the win over Basaksehir, with ex-Dortmund player Meunier starting
Onuachu shows his quality – Ghezzal scores from the spot
With three wins behind them, coach Abdullah Avci’s team traveled to Istanbul with plenty of confidence – and it paid off early: Top scorer Onuachu, who has scored 15 goals in 21 games in the league, completed a solo run across half the pitch to take the lead (12′).
At the other end, Besiktas took a while to recover from the shock, but came back before the break after Ghezzal scored with a powerful finish from a penalty (45.+3).
So into the second half – and this time the Black Eagles got off to the better start: Muleka spooned the ball softly to the five-man box, where Ucan had to head in unmarked (54′).
Al Musrati with a thrilling finish – Besiktas cup winners for the eleventh time
The stage was set for Onuachu’s second goal and the equalizer, but the Nigerian managed not to dust off Visca’s header against the crossbar, but to shoot straight at keeper Günok from one metre (64′).
It remained exciting right into the final phase – and this crowned a thrilling final fight: Firstly, joker Pepé’s goal from the penalty spot supposedly took Trabzon into extra time (89′), but Al Musrati had another torch at the ready, firing a long-range shot into the back of the net late in stoppage time for the Black Eagles’ emphatic winner (90.+4). Shortly before the end, Besiktas coach Topraktepe was shown the red card for an insult.
Then it was done and Besiktas celebrated a narrow victory in Istanbul. As a result, the Black Eagles qualified for the Europa League after all and lifted the trophy for the eleventh time in total. Trabzonspor, on the other hand, saw their unbeaten run in the final at the Atatürk Stadium come to an end, meaning the Black Sea outfit will not win their tenth trophy. The final league matchday for both clubs is on Sunday.
