Portugal cemented their place in the knockout stages of EURO2024 after a dominant win against Türkiye. Goals from Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, as well as a disastrous own goal by Samet Akaydin, saw Portugal coast past their opponents in Dortmund to book their place in the next round.
Portugal have taken top spot in the group, whilst for Türkiye, it remains all to play for. They’ll face Czechia in a decisive game next Wednesday.
As it happened
It was no surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo was involved from the off, catching it on the volley from Bernardo Silva’s drifted ball over the top. It was comfortable in the end for Altay Bayındır, however.
Türkiye would have been wondering how they didn’t take an early lead themselves though, with Kerem Aktürkoğlu looking to tap home after a cross in the six yard area. It looked to be a certain goal, but the pressure from João Cancelo was just enough to put him off.
Portugal were the team to strike first, with Silva smashing it in to grab his first goal in an international major tournament. Nuno Mendes took it to the byline, with his cutback taking a slight deflection. It fell into the path of the Manchester City maestro, who crafted a convincing finish before wheeling away in celebration. It was a wonderfully worked goal and a trademark finish from Silva – something we’ve seen many a time with the Portuguese drifting in and scoring.
We’ve seen many own goals in this tournament, but the one that doubled Portugal’s advantage was an absolute disaster. After the frustration of Cristiano Ronaldo not being able to latch onto a through ball, the attacking looked to be over for the Seleção das Quinas. However, Akaydin’s blindly played pass to Bayındır rolled past the keeper and into the back of the net. It was a calamity for Türkiye and just like that, Portugal were 0-2 up.
Portugal dominated the second period, and just 10 minutes into the half, Roberto Martinez’s side scored their third of the afternoon. Ronaldo ran onto a long ball played over the top, with just the keeper to beat. However, he unselfishly squared it to Fernandes for the easiest of finishes. Game over.
Portugal still wanted to add to the scoreline, with Ronaldo desperate to get on the scoresheet himself and get his first goal of EURO2024. A standing cross from Silva saw the Portugal all-time leading goalscorer get on the end of it – but he couldn’t find the connection he was looking for.
It was a controlled half from Portugal, with neither side really moving out of first gear. Türkiye looked like they’d written the game off when the third went in, with Vincenzo Montella’s side now firmly focused on their final group stage outing against Czechia.
The lineups
TUR: Bayındır, Çelik, Akaydin, Bardakcı; Çalhanoğlu, Ayhan; Akgün, Kökçü, Aktürkoğlu; Yılmaz.
POR: Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Pepe, Mendes; Vitinha, Palhinha, Fernandes; Silva, Ronaldo, Leão.