Article by Romeo Ene – Published on Wednesday, 04 March 2026 22:49 / Updated on Wednesday, 04 March 2026 23:00
Black evening for three Romanian footballers from the Turkish championship! Their teams were eliminated from the Cup. In the first match of the day, Besiktas defeated Rizespor, score 4-1, in group C. Valentin Mihăilă (26 years old) was an unused reserve for the guests.
Gaziantep – Fenerbahce, the other match in which Romanian footballers were involved, started an hour late due to a power cut. Nocturna fell, and the game started an hour later. Fener won without problems, score 4-0.
Deian Sorescu (28 years old) and Alexandru Maxim (35 years old) were starters, but they couldn't face the colossus from Turkey.
Mihăilă, Sorescu and Maxim, eliminated from the Turkish Cup
In group C, Besiktas settled the match with Rizespor right from the first half. Murillo opened the scoring in the 27th minute, Ucan made it 2-0 (38'), and Oh Hyeon-Gyu scored the 3rd goal (42').
Kayra Yilmaz made it 4-0 in the 81st minute, and Giannis Papanikolaou scored the goal of honor (85'). Rizespor, Valentin Mihăilă's team, finished in 6th place in group C.
For Rizespor, the duel at home with Antalyaspor follows on March 8.
The competition has a system similar to that of the Romanian Cup: three groups of eight teams each, each team playing only four matches, without directly meeting all opponents. The first two places qualify directly, and the other two places are occupied by the best third-placed teams.
Also in group C, Fenerbahce beat Gaziantep, score 4-0. Sorescu and Maxim were starters, Denis Drăguș was not used due to an injury.
Sorescu scored in the 3rd minute, but his success was canceled due to an offside, as a result of VAR intervention. Musaba finally opened the scoring for Fenerbahce in the 33rd minute.
Sidiki Cherif (52'), Dorgeles Nene (79') and Archie Brown (86') set the final score, 4-0 for Fener, who finished 2nd and advance. Gaziantep finishes in 4th place.
Sorescu played 73 minutes in this match, while Maxim ticked 83. Gaziantep will receive the visit of Karagumruk on March 8, in the championship.
