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Thursday, February 26, 2009

WHAT A FINISH BY GALATASARAY!....




Sabri Sarioglu slammed home a last-minute winner to earn Galatasaray a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup at the expense of Bordeaux.

Galatasaray looked like they were going out on away goals when Bordeaux scored twice in the space of a minute, through Marouane Chamakh and Fernando Cavenaghi, to draw level at 3-3 with a quarter of an hour remaining.
But Turkey full-back Sabri smashed a low 20-yard shot into the corner with seconds remaining to settle an amazing end-to-end tie.

The game had started at breakneck speed, David Bellion opening the scoring after just 11 seconds for Les Girondins, but Gala recovered superbly and goals by Arda Turan (two) and Harry Kewell saw them take the whip hand.
It was a sensational way for new coach Bulent Korkmaz to begin his spell in charge of Galatasaray, but his reign could hardly have got off to a worse start.

From the kick-off, the ball was played back to Diego Placente, who hoofed a long clearance upfield. The ball slid past Fernando Meira, allowing Bellion to race onto it and slip a low finish past the advancing Morgan De Sanctis.
Fortune was not favouring Korkmaz - in the 12th minute, Bordeaux centre-back Souleymane Diawara hooked a cross from Arda onto his own bar and soon after, Galatasaray's key midfielder Mehmet Topal trudged off with a hand injury.

The tide turned in the space of three minutes at the end of the half.
Turan equalised in the 42nd minute when he ran onto Milan Baros' lay-off and lashed home a shot from 15 yards.
The home crowd were still celebrating when Kewell, who had come on as a substitute for Topal, picked up a ball 25 yards out and smashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Galatasaray took control of the match thereafter and Lincoln sidefooted wide from six yards with the goal at his mercy on the hour mark.

The tricky forward made amends in the 65th minute, cutting in from the left and crossing for Arda to tap in from two yards.

The match looked over but Chamakh reduced the deficit in the 74th minute by running onto Cavenaghi's cute through-ball and sidefooting home.

Barely a minute later, De Sanctis dropped a cross and in the ensuing scramble, the ball fell at the feet of Cavenaghi, who had the simple task of tapping into an empty net.

But there was a final twist in the tail when Sabri scored a terrific winner after Bordeaux only weakly cleared a corner.

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