Striker Goran Pandev scored his first three goals for Galatasaray in today’s Turkish Cup clash versus Balçova Yaşamspor.

Since the Turkish Cup does not help in potentially qualifying for the Europa League (which is the case in other European leagues), teams in Turkey don’t value the competition as much. That’s why Turkish Cup matches usually see backups/reserves get some playing time. Goran Pandev got an opportunity to play in the prior Turkish Cup encounter, and that also happened today in the game vs. Balçova Yaşamspor.

Last time out, Pandev missed a penalty in his attempt to grab his first goal for Galatasaray. However, on Tuesday, Goran made up for that with three goals, two of them surprisingly coming on headers (something that Pandev is not known for). His first and third goals were on close range headers, while his second goal was definitely his best when he showed good dribbling skills before firing a shot to the back of the net.

Pandev eventually played until the 63rd minute when he was substituted by Koray Günter.