Euro 2024: Turkey through in thriller + save of the tournament

Morning.

After some less than entertaining Round of 16 games, we got a good one last night when Turkey played Austria in Leipzig. An early goal set the tone, a low corner caused problems in the box, keeper Patrick Pentz clawed the ball away, but Merih Demiral was to lash it into the roof of the net from close range.

Austria almost equalised immediately, and some a subsequent corner of their own, saw the ball flash right across the face of the Turkish goal. The game settled down a bit, Arda Guler impressed up front, and not for the first time in this tournament, we saw a player try his luck from long-distance but the Real Madrid man’s effort went wide. I do wonder if, as goalkeepers are asked to play higher and higher up, if this isn’t something we might see in the Premier League next season. It’s probably something we need to worry about ourselves, rather than start practicing.

Ralf Rangnick made half-time changes to try and alter the dynamic and cause Turkey more problems, and for the most part they worked. 15 of Austria’s 21 attempts on goal came in the second half, but as the rain teemed down, it was Turkey who doubled the lead. It was Demiral again, rising highest from a corner to plant home a great header to make it 2-0.

Austria came back, and after a couple of previous efforts, substitute Michael Gregoritsch found space at the back post to make it 2-1 just 7 minutes later. That goal had a significant impact on the final stages of the game. Turkey began to sit deeper and deeper, Austria pushed on, dominating possession and territory, but without a great deal of penetration. They were slow to get it wide, and when they eventually did and put crosses in, either Turkish defenders made the clearance, or on attacker – often Christoph Baumgartner – was wasteful with the finish.

The stats are amazing. Goalscoring hero Demiral made 17 clearances and blocked 4 shots, what an incredible defensive effort from him alone, but there were two other defenders…

Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/07/euro-2024-turkey-through-in-thriller-save-of-the-tournament/

Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-07-03 05:50:56

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