Turkey ended their 16-year exile from the quarter-finals of the European Championships with a thrilling 2-1 win over Austria in Tuesday's last-16 clash at the Red Bull Arena.
Vincenzo Montella's men needed just 57 seconds to open their account for the evening through Merih Demiral, whose close-range strike saw him score the fastest knockout goal ever at the men's Euros.
The centre-back repeated his trick early in the second half before Michael Gregoritsch cut the deficit in half, but the Crescent-Stars successfully absorbed Austrian pressure in the final 20 minutes, thanks in no small part to a late wonder save from Mert Gunok.
Turkey now have a quarter-final showdown with the Netherlands to look forward to on Saturday in Berlin, where the victor will earn a semi-final date against either England or Switzerland.
HIGHLIGHTS
GOAL: AUSTRIA 0-1 TURKEY (DEMIRAL 1')
TURKEY SCORE INSIDE 57 SECONDS 🇹🇷
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 2, 2024
What a start to the game 🤩#Euro2024 | #AUSTUR pic.twitter.com/iFfBpyal7d
1st min: Turkey strike immediately! Austria make a mess of dealing with an Arda Guler corner as all of Stefan Posch, Christoph Baumgartner and Patrick Pentz fail to clear the danger; the latter palms the ball into the path of Merih Demiral to lash home into the roof of the net.
2nd min: Austria nearly respond straight away as Baumgartner evades a couple of tackles and works space for a 20-yard strike, which flashes just wide of Mert Gunok's far post.
5th min: Roger Schmid's low set piece causes havoc in the Turkey box as it flashes across the goal-line but misses everyone; Baumgartner took a swipe at it but the attention of Demiral put him off.
6th min: The frenetic start continues as Philipp Lienhart heads over from the next Austria corner.
19th min: Guler attempts the spectacular from close to the halfway line but gets his execution all wrong.
25th min: The same corner combination - Guler to Demiral - ends with the 57-second scorer shouldering the ball just over the bar from a promising position.
HALF TIME: AUSTRIA 0-1 TURKEY
51st min: Gunok comes out on top in a one-on-one with Marko Arnautovic after the Austria talisman was slipped through by Posch's slick pass.
GOAL: AUSTRIA 0-2 TURKEY (DEMIRAL 59')
Another set piece goal for Turkey and they could be heading to the quarter-finals 🇹🇷#Euro2024 | #AUTTUR pic.twitter.com/YtVVJmLD5c
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 2, 2024
59th min: Demiral does it again! A barrage of cups rain down on Guler as he prepares to whip another corner in, but the Real Madrid maestro still picks out Demiral with a delightful delivery, and the 26-year-old rises above Lienhart and Kevin Danso to head home at the near post.
GOAL: AUSTRIA 1-2 TURKEY (GREGORITSCH 66')
Yet ANOTHER set-piece goal and Austria are back in it 🇦🇹#Euro2024 | #AUTTUR pic.twitter.com/RVafI272MU
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 2, 2024
66th min: Austria strike back from a corner! Marcel Sabitzer's delivery is nodded on by Posch to the back post, where Gregoritsch arrives totally untracked to guide the ball into the roof of the net and half the deficit.
75th min: Super sub Grillitsch puts his foot through a 25-yard strike, but it is straight down Gunok's throat.
90 +4 min: Baris Yilmaz has a golden chance to wrap up the victory for Turkey but fires straight at Pentz.
90 +5min: Gunok produces one of the saves of the tournament to keep out Baumgartner's last-gasp header.
FULL TIME: AUSTRIA 1-2 TURKEY
MAN OF THE MATCH - MERIH DEMIRAL
© Reuters
While Gunok and Guler deserve the most honourable mention of all honourable mentions, there was only ever going to be one candidate for the man of the match prize; a man who has etched his name into the annals of the European Championships.
Scorer of the quickest knockout goal in Euros history before rising highest for number two - becoming the first defender since Lilian Thuram in 1998 to score twice in a men's major tournament knockout match - Demiral also stood tall at the other end of the pitch in a display of true heroism.
STANDOUT MOMENT
Austria came desperately close to equalising with seconds left on the clock but it was all too late 🫣#Euro2024 | #AUTTUR pic.twitter.com/WMB3jLPM0P
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 2, 2024
As the likes of Demiral and Guler lapped up the post-game plaudits, a mention must be reserved for goalkeeper Gunok, whose last-gasp stop from Baumgartner will surely go down as the best save of the tournament so far.
Despite firstly stepping slightly to his left, the 35-year-old wasted no time in leaping to his right and parrying Baumgartner's injury-time header behind with an outrageous full-length save, one which Turkey may not be in the quarter-finals without.
BEST STATS
3 - Arda Güler is the third teenager to both score and assist in the same edition of the UEFA European Championship after Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, who both did so at EURO 2004. Prodigy. #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/NGPi8aavUy
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 2, 2024
History made! 😮#BBCEuros #Euro2024 #AUTTUR pic.twitter.com/mY2si79MzJ
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 2, 2024
2 - Merih Demiral is the first defender to score twice in a knockout stage game at a major tournament (World Cup/EUROs) since France's Lilian Thuram against Croatia in the 1998 World Cup semi-finals. Souvenir. #AUTTUR pic.twitter.com/uwaTJvNyRo
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) July 2, 2024
MATCH STATS
Possession: Austria 60%-40% Turkey
Shots: Austria 21-6 Turkey
Shots on target: Austria 5-3 Turkey
Corners: Austria 10-4 Turkey
Fouls: Austria 12-5 Turkey
LINEUPS
AUSTRIA (4-2-3-1): Pentz; Posch, Danso, Lienhart (Wober 65'), Mwene (Prass 46'); Seiwald, Laimer (Grillitsch 65'); Schmid (Gregoritsch 46'), Baumgartner, Sabitzer; Arnautovic
TURKEY (3-4-3): Gunok; Ayhan, Demiral, Bardacki; Muldur, Yuksek (Ozcan 58'), Kokcu (Kahveci 83'), Kadioglu; Yilmaz, Guler (Yokuslu 78'), Yildiz (Akturkoglu 78')
Ben Knapton
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