Guler scored a beautiful goal to decide the match against Georgia. Turkey won 3:1 thanks to an empty net goal

In their opening match at the European Championship, Turkey defeated Georgia 3-1 in their debut at a major tournament. Madrid’s Arda Güler decided the match with a beautiful shot to the back post and Kerem Aktürkoglu confirmed the win with an empty net goal. For the Czech national team, the match could have been a revelation that neither team will be an easy opponent.

Turkey dominated the start of the match and got the opening opportunity. Kaan Ayhan took a long range shot from outside the box and hit the bar. The ball bounced off the bar and towards the other bar, which it narrowly missed and ended up in the net. The Turks also played several corner kicks, from which they threatened the Georgian goal.

The opening goal of the match was scored by defender Mert Müldür in the 25th minute. Ferdi Kadioglu centred the ball from the left side of the Turkish attack, the ball was slightly blocked and Müldür took the first touch to open the scoring with a beautiful shot. The shot will surely aspire to be the goal of the tournament.

Just 2 minutes later, Georgia failed to control the ball and Güler got into a breakaway situation. The Real Madrid winger sent the ball in front of goal, where Orkun Kökcü crossed it and Kenan Yildiz closed the situation at the back post. The Juventus player sent the ball into the net and the stadium rejoiced for the second time, but this time only for a moment due to an offside by Yildiz.

The disallowed goal seemed to cool the Turks down and kick the Georgians into gear. In the 32nd minute, a beautiful individual action down the right flank released Giorgi Kochorashvili, who sent a pinpoint pass to Georges Mikautadze. He sent a shot towards the left post to equalise.

Turkey added two more goals in the second half to take the 3 points

Turkey entered the 2nd half more active again. In the 57th minute, Hakan Calhanoglu took a free direct kick a few metres outside the penalty area. The Inter Milan midfielder is known for his shooting skills, but this time he opted for punch instead of accuracy and Giorgi Mamardashvili had trouble clearing the shot.

The difference goal came in the 67th minute. Güler struck from the edge of the box and sent Turkey back into the lead with a beautiful shot to the back post.

With his goal, the Turkish gem scored Turkey’s first ever win in the opening match of the European Championship. At the same time, the 19-year-old talent became the youngest Turkish goal scorer in Euro history.

In the 70th minute, Kochorashvili was unlucky to find himself in a face-to-face situation with Gunok in the middle of the pitch. The French Metis-based cannonballer hit the crossbar and from the hand microphones, fans could hear the relief of the Turkish fans in the stadium.

Kochorashvili also had the best chance to equalise in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, sending the ball just wide of the left post. Then, in the 6th set minute, the bar rang behind Gunok and a finish by one of the Georgian players was stopped by a sacrificial leap by stopper Abdulkerim Bardakci.

From the following corner, the Turks had a quick counter-attack and as Mamardashvili was also in the opponents’ penalty area, Aktürkoglu headed the ball into the empty net. So Turkey won 3: 1 and registered three points in the group stage.

Source: EURO 2024