Turkey hands Croatia its first ever home defeat in European Championship qualifying
Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 10:43 PM
Turkey has taken a giant step towards the European Championship. The team of national coach Vincenzo Montella, which was in the group for the first time, defeated Croatia 0-1. The winning goal came from the foot of Baris Yilmaz, who took full advantage of an error in judgment by Dominik Livakovic. Turkey was the better team in large parts of the match, although they were left unscathed several times in the final phase. Thanks to the great victory, Turkey takes the lead in Group D with thirteen points. Croatia, which has played one match less, follows with ten points. This is followed by Armenia (seven out of six) and Wales (seven out of five).
On the Croatian side, one of the two Ajax players was in the starting line-up. Josip Sutalo and Josko Gvardiol formed the heart of the defense for goalkeeper Livakovic, who earns his living in Turkey at Fenerbahçe. Mateo Kovacic, Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic formed the star midfield, behind strikers Josip Brekalo, Petar Musa and Mario Pasalic. Borna Barisic was preferred to Borna Sosa. In Turkey, Montella had a starting place for Ferdi Kadioglu. In Turkey’s 4-1-4-1 formation, Salih Özcan, Hakan Çalhanoglu, Irfan Can Kahveci and Kerem Aktürkoglu had to provide the supply to Yilmaz.
Turkey started the match in Osijek excellently. That resulted in an excellent shooting opportunity for Yilmaz after just two minutes. He looked for the far corner, where Livakovic reached it just in time. The Fenerbahçe goalie had to make two more saves soon afterwards. First of all, he had an answer to a shot from Kerem Aktürkoglu, who tried it from close range moments later.
Once again Livakovic showed that he is an excellent closing post by spreading himself well. Croatia’s only chance came from Sutalo, who headed harmlessly from Modric’s corner. Turkey remained the dominant party as the first half progressed. Montella’s men played convincingly, while Croatia disappointed badly. Turkey’s 0-1 therefore certainly did not come as a surprise. An excellent deep pass from Özcan ended up perfectly in the path of Yilmaz, who was pleased to see that Livakovic made an error of judgment by wanting to go for the ball. Yilmaz got to the ball much earlier and skilfully lifted it over the Fenerbahçe goalie: 0-1.
Croatia’s most threatening moment came from Brekalo, who tested Ugurcan Çakir’s reflexes in an offside position. Turkey also performed well after the break, although it was less dominant than in the first half and Croatia came more and more forward. However, the semi-finalist of the last World Cup was not really dangerous. Modric saw a shot blocked and Pasalic shot high over. Turkey also had an excellent opportunity through Kahveci. The winger headed freely into the hands of Livakovic. Moments later, Çalhanoglu saw his shot go high.
Just fifteen minutes before the end, Lovro Majer seemed to be on its way to making it 1-1. He played around Çakir and saw his effort on the line being cleared by Kadioglu, among others. However, Majer appeared to have been narrowly offside. Another substitute, Dion Beljo, was also close to the equalizer. He was not offside, but the attacker shot straight at Çakir with his first ball contact. Beljo’s next attempt was better, but this time it was not enough to pass Çakir. Trabzonspor’s goalie saved in the short corner.
It led to frustration among Modric, who was booked by Anthony Taylor for a frustrated reaction. In minute 90, Croatia thought they could level the score after an alleged handball by Çalhanoglu. After seeing the images, Taylor decided to change his decision, as he received the ball against his chest or against his arm which was in a natural position. Croatia could no longer prevent a defeat in injury time. It is the first time in history that Croatia lost a European Championship qualifier at home.
2023-10-12 22:06:00
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