2nd July, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Turkey stunned Austria 2-1 to qualify for the quarter-finals of the ongoing Euro 2024 in Germany and will now play Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Turkey stormed into an early lead one minute into the encounter. Merih Demiral fired the rebound into the roof of the net after the ball broke to him in the box to make it 1-0.
Two minutes into first half added time, the ball was inside the box and Christoph Baumgartner took a first-time shot on goal, but his volley went narrowly wide off the right post.
In the 51st minute, Marko Arnautovic wasted a huge scoring opportunity. He found himself unmarked right in front of goal and fired in a first-time shot. Mert Gunok pulled off one of the best saves of his career and stopped the effort from hitting the net.
Eight later, Arda Guler took over corner duties and expertly found Merih Demiral, who jumped highest and coolly planted a bullet header into the middle of the goal to make it 2-0.
Austria pulled one back in the 66th minute, the corner came over and Stefan Posch flicked on with his head to Michael Gregoritsch, who made no mistake and fired the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
In the 85th minute, Christoph Baumgartner had a great chance. He climbed highest deep in the penalty box and struck a powerful header towards the net, but his effort ended wide off the left post.
Four minutes into added time, Baris Alper Yilmaz connected with a pass around the edge of the box, aimed and shot. His attempt went towards the right-hand post, but Patrick Pentz was alert and thwarted his effort.
A minute later, Baumgartner attempted to convert a lofted cross as he jumped high and headed the ball to the left side of the goal. Mert Gunok showed his brilliant reflexes and pulled off a glorious save to stop the ball from hitting the net.
