Kartal Bulvarspor saw off Uzunkopruspor 5-1 in the Cup Round of 32 on Tuesday. And here's the thing — the visitors came into this fixture having not exactly been setting the league alight, but they changed course when it mattered. The result takes them into the next stage with a performance that finally looked like the team they're meant to be.
Uzunkopruspor struck first, through H. Ozer in the fourth minute. To be fair, the home side looked dangerous early on, and that opener caught the visitors slightly off guard. But Kartal Bulvarspor responded quickly, with O. Ugurlu finding the net in the twentieth to level things up.
The second half opened with more of the same, and E. Kocakahya gave the visitors the lead in the forty-second minute. By then, Uzunkopruspor had started to tire, and the away side took full advantage. M. Cengiz added a third in the seventy-eighth, putting the tie beyond doubt.
H. Kaya finished the job with two late goals, in the eighty-third and eighty-ninth minutes. He ended a barren spell, and the seven-goal aggregate told the story of a match where one side never really got going after the break. The visitors never looked back once they took control.
It was a result that speaks volumes about Kartal Bulvarspor's mentality. They've hit a wall recently, but they found a way to pull away from that run. The margin of victory suggests a team that finally found its rhythm, even if the occasion was only a Cup fixture.
