Onazi Ogenyi won the battle against his former side Trabzonspor on Thursday night in the Turkish Cup, but the midfielder lost the war as Denizlispor were knocked out of the competition.
Trabzonspor progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition following a 4-2 penalty victory after a 2-2 aggregate result, over two legs.
Onazi started for Denizlispor and played for 56 minutes against Trabzonspor in his first meeting against his former side.
The Nigerian was released by club where he had spent four years following his move from SS Lazio in 2016.
He completed the move to Denizlispor, coming off a tough period since his recovery from an Achilles tendon rupture that kept him sidelined for almost a year.
Onazi debuted in the Super Lig clash against champions Galatasaray SK and made only his second appearance for the club on Thursday.
The midfielder played for 56 minutes as Denizlispor overturned the 2-0 first-leg deficit.
Goals from Oscar Estupinan (14′) and Recep Niyap (23′) saw the hosts level the tie.
Trabzonspor had Anthony Nwakaeme and Mikel Obi in the starting XI. The former scored the winner in the first-leg, but events at the Denizli Atatürk Stadyumu went awry for him after he was given his marching orders for a second booking, in extra time.
However the hosts couldn’t make their numerical advantage count and they also were reduced to 10 men after a late sending off for Muhammet Ozkal.
The encounter went into penalties as the sides jostled for a place in the last eight.
Tiago Lopes and Radoslaw Murawski both missed their kicks for Denizlispor, while the visitors were perfect – 4 in 4 – from the spot to book their place in the next round.
Trabzonspor thus joined Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Antalyaspor, Alanyaspor, Sivasspor, BB Ezurumspor and Kirklarelispor in the quarter-finals.
The First-leg of the last eight fixtures will be played between February 4th and 6th.
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