New Delhi: In another exciting match of the UEFA Euro 2024, Portugal blew Turkey away 3-0 at the BVB Stadion Dortmund to seal qualification to the knockout stages. The game was off to a bright start as Turkey started the game strongly, looking to shock the UEFA Euro 2016 winners early but were unable to test Diogo Costa’s goal properly.
It was the Turks who had the first clear opportunity of the match as Zeki Celik curled in a pinpoint cross into the box, but Kerem Akturkoglu made a hash of it as he couldn’t connect cleanly with the ball as Turkey missed a vital opportunity to take the lead. Portugal ensured that they capitalize on the chances they create and didn’t make the same mistake as the Turks.
A Nuno Mendes cross from the left took a slight deflection off a Turkish defender and found its way to Bernardo Silva who arrived late in the box and unleashed a first-time shot past Altay Bayındır. Silva’s goal gave Portugal a well-deserved lead and there was no coming back for Turkey from that point onwards. Shortly after the first goal, Portugal were 2-0 up in a comical manner as no one could believe what had transpired. A misplaced pass from Joao Cancelo had seemed to kill off a scoring opportunity for the Portuguese side.
However, the ball was collected by Samet Akaydin who played a seemingly harmless pass back to his goalkeeper but Bayindir was out of position and could only see the ball pass him as it rolled past the goal-line, making it one of the most bizarre own goals of this tournament. And considering the number of own goals we’ve seen in the tournament, that is saying something. The own goal seemed to have killed any hopes or momentum that Turkey was trying to build for themselves and it was evident from their performance on the pitch.
The game was finished for the Turks just 10 minutes into the second half as Cristiano Ronaldo collected a beautiful delivery over the top of the Turkish defence and was one-on-one against the Turkish keeper and unselfishly passed the ball to Bruno Fernandes in the box next to him as the Manchester United star scored into the open net to put his side ahead by three goals, wrapping the game up.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo adds another UEFA Euro Record to his tally
Ronaldo adds another record to his name (Photo by Bernd Thissen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Cristiano Ronaldo is officially ruling the UEFA European Championships as the Portuguese legend has added yet another record to his already long list of achievements in this competition. Ronaldo is already the leading appearance maker of the tournament with 27 appearances and is also the tournament’s leading goalscorer with 14 goals.
While the Portuguese legend was unable to add to his goalscoring tally tonight, he was on hand to set up his teammate, Bruno Fernandes, with an unselfish pass for his side’s third goal of the night. Ronaldo’s assist for Fernandes marked his seventh assist in the competition’s history, making him the highest assist-getter in UEFA Euro history.
Having already won the tournament back in 2016, he has achieved everything possible in the tournament and could still yet add another record to his name if he scores in this year’s edition, making him the tournament’s oldest scorer ever.
2) Bernardo Silva finally shows up at a major tournament
Silva was the main man for Portugal tonight (Photo by Matt McNulty – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
The curious case of Bernardo Silva is an extremely interesting one as the Manchester City midfielder is almost undroppable from the City squad, yet has always looked like a shadow of that player whenever he plays for the national side in a major tournament. The 29-year-old always went missing in big tournaments for Portugal, something that drew a lot of ire from the Portuguese faithful.
However, today was a different case for the Manchester City man as he was a constant thorn in Turkey’s side as he was an ever-present Portugal, creating almost all attacks for them. He created a total of four chances for his side, the highest anyone created in the match and was easily the best player on the pitch.
Not only did he create chances, he also opened the scoring for Portugal which set the tone for what transpired in the match, setting the platform for a dominant performance. His goal tonight was also the first goal he ever scored for Portugal at a major tournament as he had failed to either score or assist in his previous 14 appearances, Euros and FIFA World Cup combined. Portugal would hope for more of the same from him in their coming matches.
3) Turkish Defensive Nightmare
Turkey’s defensive horror show was the cause of their downfall. (Photo by Angel Martinez – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
There was a renewed sense of optimism amongst the Turkish faithful after their commanding 3-1 win over Georgia. After a bright start today against Portugal, they were rocked by Bernardo Silva’s goal and never looked like coming back in the game. All of the goals they conceded today were due to some horrible defending from the Turkish defence and that is something Montella would need to tweak before their clash against Czechia.
The cross for Silva’s goal was deflected into his path and considering there wasn’t enough pace on the ball, should’ve been dealt with better. That was the goal that set the tone for the match but also the one where the Turks were least at fault. The second and third goals were their own undoing as a horrible mix-up between Bayindir and Akaydin led to a freak own goal, which could’ve been avoided had they communicated better.
Even for the third goal, the defensive line was completely out of position and both Ronaldo and Silva had ounces of space to manipulate the game from the middle. Ronaldo had an easy job to enter the penalty box without any opposition from the defence and Bruno Fernandes was left completely unmarked to make it 3-0.
Portugal defeated Turkey 3-0 as goals from Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and an own goal from Samet Akaydin ensured that Roberto Martinez’s men advance to the knockout stages. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
