2007-08 Ziraat Turkish Cup winner Kayseri sent packing

The Ziraat Turkish Cup, dubbed the tournament of upsets, is a competition in which minnows love humiliating soccer heavyweights and sending them packing with embarrassment.

The competition again lived up to its reputation on Wednesday when the 2007-08 cup winner Kayserispor was ousted 4-2 at home on penalty kicks by struggling Manisaspor in an all-Super League clash at Kayseri's Kadir Has Stadium.

The Kayseri Anatolian Tigers are fourth from the top in the 17-team Super League with 18 points from 10 matches, while Manisa is fourth from the bottom with 7. So going into the one-match Ziraat Turkish Cup second playoff round on Wednesday, Kayserispor was the bookmakers' favorite. But the fact of the matter is that soccer, the Turkish Cup in particular, is not a bookish affair. It's all about outwitting and outscoring your opponent.

After a goalless draw in fulltime and extra-time, a penalty shootout was to determine the winner. Nigerian junior striker Isaac Promise, Fatih Baydemir, Yiğit İncedemir and Kemal Okyay all converted their spot kicks for Manisaspor; Bilal Aziz and Aydın Toscalı were the only two players who scored for the Kayserispor Tigers. The result meant Manisaspor advancing to the group stage of the cup, while the Tigers will be watching this competition on television all season long at their den.

To compound matters for the beautiful city of Kayseri, Bank Asya League 1 struggler Kayseri Erciyesspor was beaten 4-1 by 10-man Super League minnow Kasımpaşa at the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium in İstanbul, wiping the city off the Turkish Cup map this season. Paşa, as Kasımpaşa is popularly known, finished the match with a man less after Christian Keller was given his marching orders in the second minute of injury time (92nd).

Kayserispor, which will host the rampaging Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries in week 11 of the Super League on Sunday, will need to drastically improve its performance to avoid another debacle.

Keeper Aykut saves lame Lions

The Galatasaray Lions beat Bank Asya League 1 side Bucaspor 2-1 with first half goals from Aussie winger Harry Kewell in the 17th and young captain-playmaker Arda Turan in the 32nd. Buca's consolation goal was scored by midfielder Kenan Aslanoğlu in the 87th.

But the Lions have second choice goalkeeper Aykut Erçetin to thank as they withstood a second-half barrage from a desperate Bucaspor to hang on to victory. Aykut pulled off several daring saves to deny Buca victory, and if first choice error-prone Argentine keeper Leo Franco had manned the post, it would have been a different story altogether for Galatasaray.

The Lions, playing with 10 men for about one hour after Brazil playmaker Elano Blumer was red-carded in the 34th for bringing down goal-bound Bucaspor midfielder Sercan Kaya, resorted to “ugly football” in the second half. Unlucky Buca was the dominant side in this half, hitting the woodwork once and missing a late penalty. Who said there was justice in soccer?

Crocs also struggle

The Bursa Green Crocs, currently second in the Super League, just managed to beat Bank Asya League 1 team Güngören Belediyespor away by the slightest of margins, 1-0, at the Mimar Yahya Baş Stadium in İstanbul.

And the fact that the Crocs needed an 84th minute penalty from Brazilian striker José Tadeu Mouro Junior to accomplish this feat further consolidates the fact that the Turkish Cup is a competition where straw-weights show little or no respect to Super League prodigies.

Other cup results

Diyarbakırspor 0, Tursus İdmanyurdu 1; Ankaragücü 3, Karşıyaka 2; Denizlispor 4, Gaziantepspor 1; İstanbul BsB 5, Gençlerbirliği 3 (penalties); Mersin İdmanyurdu 6, Antayaspor 7 (penalties); Yalovaspor 1, Eskişehirspor 3; Tokatspor 3, [relegated] Ankaraspor 2; Denizli Belediyespor 2, Kastamonuspor 1; Orduspor 1, Belediye Vanspor 0; Konya Şekerspor 3, Adanaspor 2.