Lions face stadium ban after stabbing of a fan

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Sercan Yıldırım scored two goals in his team’s 4-1 victory over Adana Demirspor but the win was marred by the violent events off the pitch.

Galatasaray is likely to play at least one game behind closed doors as one fan was stabbed from his leg during the team’s Ziraat Turkish Cup game against Adana Demirspor on Jan. 10.

A 16-year-old fan was stabbed in his leg after an argument during the game at the Türk Telekom Arena in Istanbul, CNN Türk reported. He was released from the hospital yesterday, the news television said, adding four people were released after being detained by the Istanbul police.

The incident happened during the team’s comfortable 4-1 victory over the second-tier side, hailing from the Mediterranean Region of Turkey.

Forward Sercan Yıldırım found the net twice, while veteran Ayhan Akman and winger Engin Baytar were also on the score sheet to carry the Super League leaders to the fourth round of the Ziraat Turkish Cup.

Erçağ Evirgen scored the only goal for Bank Asya League One side Demirspor, who was supported by a few thousands of ambitious fans at the Türk Telekom Arena.

Earlier, one-time winner Bursaspor had the same score comfortable knocking Şanlıurfaspor out of the competition.

Unexpected defeats

Not all the Super League sides were victorious yesterday, since Manisaspor and Gençlerbirliği bowed out of the competition, suffering unexpected defeats.

Third-tier Buğsaş Spor came back from defeat to knock Manisaspor out of the competition, thanks to a 2-1 victory at home yesterday.

The way Gençlerbirliği was knocked out of the domestic cup was somewhat more dramatic, since the team, which is sitting sixth in the Super League, lost 3-2 to Boluspor after extra-time.

Veteran winger Orhan Ak opened the scoring for Boluspor in the 48th minute, while Gençlerbirliği forced the overtime thanks to 90th minute equalizer from Albanian defender Debatik Curri.

Young midfielder Ferhat Kiraz gave Boluspor the lead again in the eighth minute of the extra-time, but Herve Tum responded 15 minutes after.

With the game seemingly closing to the penalty shootout, Orhan Ak took the stage again and scored a dramatic winner in the 117th minute of the match.

Eskişehirspor enjoyed a dramatic victory as well, rallying from a 2-0 defeat to a 3-2 victory with 10 men over Eyüpspor. Kayserispor beat Akhisar 1-0, while Antalyaspor defeated Gaziosmanpaşa 3-1 to advance to the round of 16 in the Turkish Cup.