Kasımpaşa returns to top flight football

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Kasımpaşa forward Adem Büyük scored one goal in the playoff final. AA photo

Kasımpaşa beat Adanaspor 3-2 in overtime in the Bank Asya League One playoff final to become the third team to advance to the Spor Toto Super League on May 27.

Azar Karadaş, a Norwegian forward of Turkish origin, scored the winner in the 117th minute to lift Kasımpaşa back to the Super League after one year of absence.

Adanaspor, who last played in the top flight in 2004, had to play large parts of the game with 10 men after Barbaros Barut was sent off after arguing with referee Fırat Aydınus in the 22nd minute.

Gökhan Güleç, who is one of the members of the 2010 Kasımpaşa team that was relegated from the Super League, scored the first goal of the night in the 37th minute.

Adanaspor equalized with Rahman Kobya in the 67th minute, only for Adem Büyük to give Kasımpaşa the lead five minutes after.

Cameroonian ace Serges Mbilla scored a dramatic equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time and forced the match into overtime.

With Kasımpaşa’s Hüseyin Yoğurtçu being sent off in the 12th minute of the extra time, Adanaspor looked like it had a chance, but Kasımpaşa won the game with Karadaş finding the net with just three minutes left. “I have been in charge for two months and have seen many challenges that a team can pose,” Kasımpaşa coach Metin Diyadin said. “I think we deserved the promotion. When it’s the playoffs, somebody has to be disappointed. It could have been us as well.”