Portugal cruise past Turkey to secure last 16 spot at Euro 2024
One of four changes to the Turkey starting line-up from their opening win over Georgia, goalkeeper Altay Bayındır was tested after just a minute when Cristiano Ronaldo caught Bernardo Silva’s cross sweetly on the volley.
Kerem Akturkoglu was another beneficiary of rotation after his goal against Georgia, but he could not repay Vincenzo Montella’s faith in him five minutes later, when he failed to turn Zeki Celik’s cross goalwards from six yards.
Punishment duly came midway through the first half, when Rafael Leao combined down the Portugal left with Nuno Mendes. His low cross deflected into the path of Bernardo Silva, who guided the ball past Bayındır to put Portugal ahead.
Just seven minutes later, the lead was doubled in comical style, when Ronaldo threw his hands up in frustration as Joao Cancelo’s poor through ball was easily cut out by Samet Akaydin.
But the defender completely missed Bayindır with his backpass, sending the ball trickling over the line just before the scrambling Celik could hook it clear.
Akturkoglu almost provided the ideal response for the Crescent Stars, only for Diogo Costa to deny him smartly at his near post, before Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo failed to keep efforts down before the break. But just 10 minutes after the break, Portugal made light work of more poor Turkish defending to add a third.
A sloppy backline played Ronaldo onside, allowing him to latch onto Ruben Neves’ long ball forward and have a free run at goal, before drawing the goalkeeper and squaring the ball to Fernandes, who tapped it into an empty net.
Even the introduction of young Turkish sensation Arda Guler failed to make a game of it, and content with their advantage, Roberto Martinez’s men sat back and thwarted any hopes of a late consolation.
They remain unbeaten in the Euros against a team ranked outside the top 20 since losing the 2004 final, while a draw in Turkey's final group outing against Czechia will be enough for them to reach the knockout rounds for the first time in 16 years.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bernardo Silva (Portugal)
Check out the match stats here.
