El Bilal Toure turned a Murillo cross into the net after goalkeeper Ertuğrul could only parry the shot, putting Beşiktaş 1-0 during the Ziraat Turkey Cup quarterfinal that hosted Corendon Alanyaspor at Tüpraş Stadium on April 6, 2024. The match kicked off at 20.45 in front of a sold-out crowd and was shown live on ATV.
The game was refereed by Cihan Aydın and played as a single-leg knockout tie: if the score was level after 90 minutes the teams would play two 15-minute extra-time periods and, if still tied, settle the result with penalty kicks. The winner of the quarterfinal will move on to the semifinals and face Konyaspor.
Beşiktaş named Ersin, Murillo, Agbadou, Emirhan, Rıdvan, Ndidi, Orkun, Olaitan, El Bilal, Cerny and Oh in the starting eleven. Corendon Alanyaspor started Ertuğrul, Lima, Güven, Duarte, Hwang, Janvier, Fatih, İbrahim, Ümit, Maestro and Hadergjonaj. All tickets for the fixture were sold out.
Manager Sergen Yalçın had framed the tie in stark terms before kickoff, stressing the priority his club placed on the cup: "Ligdeki pozisyonumuz kupayı ön plana çıkarıyor. Kupa bizim için çok değerli, Avrupa'ya çıkış yolumuz. O yüzden iyi hazırlandık. Kazanıp yarı finale geçmek, kupayı kazanmak istiyoruz. İnşallah iyi bir oyunla, ciddi bir taraftar kitlesi de var bugün, güzel bir gece geçirip yolumuza devam etmek istiyoruz. Umarım kupayı kazanan taraf biz oluruz." Beşiktaş go into the match having won the Turkish Cup 11 times and aiming to lift the trophy for a 12th time.
Yalçın also confirmed squad news ahead of the game: "Ndidi ve Emirhan da döndü ve eksiğimiz yok şu anda. Tamamen kupa üzerine planlarımızı yaptık. Sezonu kupa finali ile bitirmek istiyoruz. Ondan sonra önümüzdeki sezona bakacağız. Şu anda önceliğimiz Türkiye Kupası. Bizim için rakip fark etmiyor. Beşiktaş kazanmak için sahaya çıkar. Beşiktaş, olduğu her maçta favoridir." At the same time the club announced that Kartal Kayra Yılmaz would miss the match because his season was over due to injury.
The decisive moment recorded in the match reports began with a right-wing delivery from Murillo. El Bilal Toure got his foot to the ball and forced a save; Ertuğrul could only parry the effort and the ball crossed the line for a 1-0 score. Alanyaspor threatened from the right through Hadergjonaj later in the game but his cross was cleared by Murillo at the back post.
A source said Beşiktaş and Alanyaspor were meeting in the Turkish Cup for the first time, adding a layer of novelty to a fixture played on traditional cup knockout terms. Alanyaspor’s best previous run in the competition came in the 2019-2020 season, when the club reached the final and lost 2-0 to Trabzonspor; they remain in search of their first Turkish Cup title.
Yalçın underlined the unpredictability of the cup as the tie progressed: "İki büyük camia elendi, sürprizler oldu. Bu şunu gösteriyor; maçlar sahada oynanıyor, mücadeleyi sahada vermek lazım, savaşmak lazım, doğru oyunu oynamak lazım yoksa hüsran olabiliyor. Biz bunu yaşamamak için çok konsantreyiz. Umarım devam eden taraf biz oluruz." With an early goal giving Beşiktaş the edge, the match carried the immediate consequence that the winning side would head to a semifinal against Konyaspor, while the other would exit the competition.
By the final whistle the night would have settled who advanced toward the club’s 12th Turkish Cup attempt; until then Sergen Yalçın’s hope remained the clearest line through the evening: "Umarım kupayı kazanan taraf biz oluruz."
