Late Drama at Yeni Buca Stadı: Winless Buca FK Salvage Pride with Last-Gasp Equalizer in Thrilling 3-3 Draw Against İnegölspor
In the fading daylight of İzmir, a club adrift in despair found a slender hope. Buca FK, rock bottom in Turkey’s 2. Lig and battered by a season of relentless defeats, summoned their first point of the campaign in the most dramatic fashion—a 90th-minute goal that defied the narrative of resignation and left promotion hopefuls İnegölspor ruing a squandered lead.
For much of a wild afternoon at Yeni Buca Stadı, order seemed to favor the form book. Buca FK, mired in 19th place with a string of six consecutive losses, appeared destined for another bleak entry in their annals. Instead, a match that see-sawed with abandon ended with arms raised, not only in frustration but—at last—for joy.
The action began with urgency, Buca FK demonstrating a hunger not often seen in recent weeks. Just twelve minutes had ticked off the clock when the home side pierced the İnegölspor back line, the ball nestled into the net to summon a rare eruption from the home support. The scorer’s name may be lost to record for now, but the moment was unmistakable: Buca FK had seized an unlikely lead.
İnegölspor, whose campaign has been built on resilience and the reliable boots of Y. Ozan, responded with assertive purpose. Ozan, a figure who has been instrumental throughout their autumn ascent, delivered again in the 18th minute, restoring parity with a clinical strike. Momentum shifted further five minutes later, as İnegölspor pulled ahead on a fluid counter, stunning Buca’s defense for their second goal by the 23rd minute. At that stage, the match seemed ready to settle into its expected pattern, with the visitors dictating terms.
Yet, Buca FK refused to dissolve. Down but unbowed, they found renewed rhythm and again breached İnegölspor’s goal in the 33rd minute, squaring the contest at 2-2—a signal that the match, and perhaps the team’s tormented season, would not simply follow the script.
The second half unraveled under the weight of tension and burgeoning frustration. Both sides sought a foothold. İnegölspor, eager to consolidate their perch among the promotion contenders, pressed forward, orchestrating a series of raids that finally told in the 79th minute. The visitors’ third goal—a product of patient buildup and incisive finishing—appeared to seal Buca FK’s fate once more, the story of the season threatening to repeat.
But inertia, so often their nemesis, was finally vanquished. Buca FK surged with desperate ambition as the clock bled into stoppage time. What followed was a scramble in the box, a frenzied mass of bodies, and a strike forced home in the 90th minute. A lifeline, raw and redemptive, that brought a cathartic end for the home faithful. The final whistle was met not with resignation, but with applause—a rare and precious sensation for Buca FK this year.
The result, a 3-3 draw, ends Buca FK’s run of consecutive losses and gifts them their very first point of the campaign—still last in the league, but perhaps now with a sense that this season need not be a procession to obscurity. Their recent record makes for grim reading: defeats to Kepez Belediyespor, Tuzlaspor, Ankaraspor, Muğlaspor, and Kastamonuspor, conceding heavily and seldom threatening at the other end. The defense, porous; the attack, largely muted—until today.
İnegölspor, meanwhile, will feel the sharp sting of two dropped points. Sitting seventh with 13 points from eight matches, and coming off a strong run—victories over Tuzlaspor and Kastamonuspor 1966, a draw at Ankaraspor, and only a single recent defeat—today’s late collapse undermines their promotion push. Y. Ozan continues to be their protagonist, with another crucial goal, but the volatility at the back will trouble a coaching staff with ambitions for the upper echelons.
Though the archives of this fixture may not bristle with storied history, today’s encounter will linger for Buca FK as the day their resolve earned a tangible reward. No red cards marred the contest, but tension pulsed throughout—a game where every tackle carried consequence, and every goal reconfigured the plot.
For Buca FK, the future remains precarious. Next week offers another chance to claw upward, but the path is steep, the margin for error almost vanished. Yet, the grit on display has breathed life into a campaign many had already consigned to oblivion.
As for İnegölspor, the mission is clear: recover composure, find consistency, and validate their early promise with a more ruthless edge. With the season gathering pace and the table tightening, today’s drama serves as a stinging reminder—nothing in the 2. Lig comes easy, least of all three points in a restless İzmir evening.