Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Cup Semi-Final
Silver goals from Rebrov and Tuncay opened the door to the Semi Final of the Turkish Cup as we beat Çaykur Rizespor 4-2 on their own, rather battered turf.
Selçuk returned to the side after his stomach problem, taking the right wing position which he was introduced before his illness. Marco Aurelio and Ümit Özat formed the centre of the park, with Tuncay on the left. Marcio Nobre and Pierre van Hooijdonk were at the front, while the defensive quartet was left unchanged as Ýsmail Güldüren, Stjepan Tomas, Fabio Luciano and Ali Güneþ kept their places.
Daum`s directive to his side was obviously to press Rizespor`s defence early on, and it nearly paid off with Tuncay Þanlý and Aurelio effectively winning balls in their half and creating danger.
Despite dominating posession Marcio Nobre and Pierre van Hooijonk couldn`t make themselves a threat in the box, but Tuncay looked lively and cut in from the left on many occassions. The 20th minute saw the Turkey international shrug off two challenges and shoot whilst being pulled. His effort cannoned back off the upright.
Totally against the run of play, Rizespor got the first goal of the game through a slick counter attack which was finished off by Þener`s powerful half volley into the top corner.
For 10 minutes after the goal, our defence seemed to be in pieces, getting caught with too much space given to the opposition. Ali Güneþ shone in this period, making two very critical sliding challenges to block serious counter attacks.
Ümit and Selçuk looked to be the secret weapons to get goals, as they broke into the danger area with frequent runs off the ball. The captain showed his shooting skills as he struck one from a difficult angle with his left foot and forced a save, but the ball came straight in front of Selçuk who finished first time to equalise five minutes before the break.
The pitch got worse in the second half and the game turned scrappy as a result. The home side were unaffacted however, and broke down the right wing to find some space behind Ali and Aurelio. Zafer`s pass to Saffet was hit first time into Volkan`s bottom right hand corner, 2-1.
Most of the second half from here on in was frustrating for our fans, with little being created to give hope of an equaliser. Daum made a triple change with 20 minutes to go, putting on Mehmet Yozgatlý, Sergei Rebrov and Servet Çetin.
But it was a starting player who grabbed the goal to take the game into extra time. Brazilian stopper Fabio Luciano power headed past Murat in the box as he made a run forward to latch onto Ümit`s cross in the 85th minute.
Rizespor nearly grabbed a dramatic late winner through Þener, but he was denied by Volkan.
Extra time would be the battle of the fittest, which proved to be our side. A sudden explosion in the first half of extra time gave us the edge and took us into the Semi Finals. Rebrov got himself into space on the right and received a pass from van Hooijdonk to take the ball into his stride and blast low into the back of the net. Within seven minutes, another goal came from a similar move, as Tuncay made a diagonal run to latch onto a through ball and score our fourth goal.
Fans witnessed another Silver Goal victory for Fenerbahçe and another step closer to the much-missed final of the Turkish Cup. The final score: 2-4 aet.
Source: Fenerbahçe.org
