Paul Onuachu put Trabzonspor ahead in the 18th minute and then stepped up to convert a penalty in the 79th as the club beat Konyaspor 2-1 to win the Turkish Cup on Friday night.
Konyaspor levelled five minutes after the restart through Jackson Muleka, and the match was swung by two spot-kicks and a late handball call. Enis Bardhi missed a penalty when his effort struck the post after Tim Jabol-Folcarelli was fouled in the box, and in the final quarter Marko Jevtovic was penalised for a handball inside the area. That handball led to the 79th-minute penalty which Onuachu converted to restore Trabzonspor's advantage.
The 2-1 scoreline secured Trabzonspor their first cup triumph since 2020 and denied Konyaspor a comeback that had briefly levelled the final. The victory returned the club to the top of the domestic cup ranks after defeat by Galatasaray in last year's competition; coverage of rotation and knockout rounds this season included matches such as Galatasaray Vs Gençlerbirliği: Buruk rotates as Turkish Cup quarterfinal kicks off at RAMS Park (
Onuachu finished the season as a joint top-scorer in the Turkish Super Lig and closed the campaign with 26 goals and two assists in 36 appearances across all competitions, numbers that underlined his influence on both league and cup fronts for Trabzonspor.
The match’s decisive moments underlined how narrow cup finals can be: Muleka’s equaliser five minutes after the interval showed Konyaspor's threat, Bardhi’s penalty that hit the post proved how fine the margins were, and the handball call against Jevtovic produced the single moment of clear reprieve for Trabzonspor. Those events — a missed penalty and a later awarded one — separated the teams in a match that rarely suggested a comfortable winner.
For Onuachu, the night was confirmation of a season in which he repeatedly found the net and then delivered when the stakes were highest. His early goal gave Trabzonspor the platform, and his 79th-minute penalty provided the decisive finish that ended a cup drought stretching back to 2020. The outcome leaves Trabzonspor with the title and Onuachu with a defining contribution to their return to cup silverware.
