Sport

Sukur strikes twice to keep Turkish hopes alive

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/ Galatasaray 2 Juventus 0: Hakan Sukur scored twice as Galatasaray beat Juventus 2-0 in the Champions League…

Wed Dec 03 2003 - 00:00

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/ Galatasaray 2 Juventus 0: Hakan Sukur scored twice as Galatasaray beat Juventus 2-0 in the Champions League last night, keeping alive the Turkish team's hopes of qualifying from Group D.

Sukur grabbed the opener two minutes after the restart with a fine header and then sealed the victory with an injury time strike after being put through by Hasan Sas.

The result moves Galatasaray above Olympiakos into third place on six points, but leaves them two points behind their next opponents - second-placed Real Sociedad. Fatih Terim's side must win that match in Spain next week if they are to go through to the knock-out stage of the competition.

The match against the Italian champions had been postponed by a week and switched to Dortmund's Westfalen stadium by UEFA following the recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul. But there was no doubt that Galatasaray enjoyed home advantage. The ground was packed with Turkish supporters, so many that the start was delayed for 15 minutes due to traffic congestion.

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It was Juve, who rested most of their big-name players, who started the better and they were unlucky not to take the lead when Fabrizio Miccoli struck the post with a 20-metre free-kick in the 29th minute.

But two minutes into the second half they fell behind when the lively Sabri Sarioglu burst down the left wing and his cross was met at the near post by Sukur with a smartly angled glancing header past Chimenti. And it was the same player who made sure there was no chance of a comeback, slotting home confidently in injury time.

GALATASARAY: Mondragon, Ak, De Boer (Korkmaz 84), Goktan, Sukur (Haspolatli 90), Petre, Prates (Sas 45), Tamas, Sarioglu, Unsal, Penbe. Subs Not Used: Ercetin, Erdem, Ercan, Usta. Booked: Petre, Sas. Goals: Sukur 47, 90.

JUVENTUS: Chimenti, Ferrara, Tudor, Pessotto, Conte (Camoranesi 86), Miccoli, Iuliano (Appiah 75), Maresca, Di Vaio, Zalayeta, Davids. Subs Not Used: Buffon, Montero, Nedved, Birindelli, Trezeguet. Booked: Conte, Zalayeta, Di Vaio, Maresca, Davids.

Referee: Kim Nielsen (Denmark).