galatasaray glee in germany published: wednesday 3 december 2003
galatasaray sk 2-0 juventus fc two goals from hakan sükür kept the turkish side in the running.
by mark bennett at the westfalenstadion
galatasaray sk kept alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the uefa champions league with a crucial 2-0 victory against juventus fc, helped by two goals from hakan sükür and a string of saves by faryd mondragón.
final-day drama the win took fatih terim's side on to six points, and means that second place in group d will be decided on matchday 6 when galatasaray visit - and must beat - the side immediately above them, real socidedad de fútbol. juventus, meanwhile, need to collect a point against the already eliminated olympiacos cfp to be sure of winning the section.
key players rested juventus coach marcello lippi kept his pre-match promise to rest david trezeguet, gianluigi buffon and pavel nedved, with all three starting on the bench. galatasaray, meanwhile, were boosted by the inclusion of hakan sükür after the experienced striker passed a late fitness test.
móndragon to the rescue in a match postponed for seven days and switched from istanbul to dortmund by uefa for security reasons, galatasaray were the more positive in the early exchanges, but it was juventus who created the first chance of the night. the italian side cleared a corner and fabrizio miccoli broke down the middle before cleverly finding marco di vaio. the striker was left with only mondragón to beat, but the goalkeeper held his nerve to block the shot.
shot wide galatasaray came back strongly and created a clear chance of their own. ergün penbe made a darting run into the penalty area, and pulled the ball back to hakan sükür, but the striker sent his effort just over antonio chimenti's crossbar. however, mondragón was soon forced to save his side once more, keeping out another di vaio effort. five minutes later, the colombian goalkeeper was finally beaten by miccoli's free-kick, but this time the post came to his rescue.
double save three minutes before half-time galatasaray were once again lucky not to concede as mondragón failed to hold another miccoli shot, but the goalkeeper recovered quickly to keep out di vaio's follow-up effort. seconds before the interval, terim made his first change, introducing striker hasan sas for brazilian defender césar prates.
hakan sükür strikes the increased emphasis on attacking paid dividends only two minutes into the second half. hasan sas fed the ball to hakan ünsal on the left wing and the midfield player's cross was headed into the net by hakan sükür to send the 65,000-strong crowd - the vast majority of whom were galatasaray fans - wild with delight.
deep defending the goal gave the turkish team the edge, and terim's side were in no hurry to take any unnecessary risks. in a reversal of the pattern of the first half, galatasaray were largely content to defend deep and wait for chances to extend their advantage with swift counterattacks.
tactical switch juventus were forced to change their tactics and commit more men forward, but lippi's side struggled to breach a well-organised defence and had only a long-range effort from edgar davids, which was comfortably saved by mondragón, to show for their efforts.
tense finale indeed, as time ran out, it was the turkish team who created the better chances, with berkant göktan racing through with only chimenti to beat only for the midfield player to drag his shot wide. it mattered little, however, as hakan sükür broke clear thanks to a hasan sas through-ball in stoppage time, and kept his head to settle the result.
