Papiss Cisse’s hat-trick propels Alanyaspor past Antalyaspor

Papiss Cisse scored three goals to inspire Alanyaspor to a 4-0 victory over Antalyaspor in Thursday’s Turkish Cup game.   

Football activities recently restarted in Turkey, including the Super Lig which has been suspended since March due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country and across the world.

The Senegal international was handed a starting role in the game and shone to help his side return to winning ways after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir in Saturday’s league match.

The 35-year-old wasted no time to announce himself in the encounter when he opened the scoring in the 15th minute.

Ceyhun Gulselam doubled the lead 10 minutes later after receiving a fine assist from Tasos Bakasetas before Cisse missed a glorious chance to score his second moments before the half-time break.

The Senegalese made amends after the restart when he found the back of the net in the 46th minute after benefitting from Salih Ucan’s assist.

Cisse then sealed the victory with a well-taken effort in the 49th minute to complete his brilliant showing at Bahcesehir Okullari Stadium.

The 35-year-old featured for 75 minutes before making way for Mustafa Pektemek while his teammate and the Democratic Republic of the Congo international Fabrice N'Sakala featured throughout the encounter.

Cisse has now scored 20 goals, including 16 in the Super Lig, and provided two assists in 30 appearances across all competitions in this campaign.

The forward started his career with Generation Foot academy and then joined Douanes Dakar in 2003 before moving to France to team up with Metz.

He has played for SC Freiburg, Newcastle United and Shandong Luneng before he signed for Alanyaspor in the summer of 2018.

Cisse will hope to continue his impressive performances and help Erol Bulut’s men maintain their winning form when they face Trabzonspor in a league game on June 22.

The forward has scored 16 goals in 35 appearances for Senegal and last featured for the Teranga Lions in 2014 against Botswana, missing last year's Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where the West Africans finished as runner-up.