Gençlerbirligi spree continues

Gençlerbirligi SK eased their way into the fourth round of the UEFA Cup with a comfortable 3-0 victory against ten-man Parma AC, earning a 4-0 triumph overall following last week's wonderful display in Italy.

Constant threat
Souleymane Youla was the star of the show in the first 45 minutes before fading in the second half, causing no end of problems for the visitors. The Guinean international was a constant threat, twice forcing Parma goalkeeper Sébastien Frey into last-ditch challenges in the early exchanges.

Desperate goalkeeping
Youla had already missed a great chance, slicing wide when in plenty of space, before going down under a challenge from Frey just past the half-hour. The Parma goalkeeper escaped punishment as the referee waved play on, but was not so fortunate two minutes later.

Red card
Again Youla capitalised on a lapse of concentration from the Parma defence to race clear and skipped past Frey on the edge of the penalty area only to be felled by the goalkeeper's challenge. This time the referee did point to the spot, and showed the French goalkeeper a red card for his troubles.

Double punishment
Marco Amelia replaced forward Benito Carbone, and the reserve goalkeeper's first task was to pick Filip Daems' well-struck penalty out of the net. Trailing by two goals on aggregate, Parma lacked the imagination or the quality to break down their Turkish opponents and rarely threatened to get back into the tie in the second half.

Wasted chances
Even when the home side sat back and invited pressure, Parma did little more than win a number of free-kicks on the edge of their opponents' penalty area. Not once did the Slovenian goalkeeper Damir Botonjic have to make a save of note.

Own goal
Parma's miserable night got even worse when captain Matteo Ferrari headed into his own net ten minutes before the final whistle. As Amelia rushed out to claim the ball, Ferrari headed a long ball up and over the grasp of his despairing goalkeeper and into the net, effectively confirming his side's elimination in the process.

Late third
A fumble by Amelia enabled Ali Tandogan to add a third for Gençlerbirligi at the death to round off a memorable evening for the home fans. Having knocked out Blackburn Rovers FC and Sporting Clube de Portugal already, few sides will relish the prospect of playing the side from Ankara.