Turkey stun Netherlands in thrilling World Cup qualifier

Sports Desk Published: 25 March 2021, 04:40 PM | Updated: 25 March 2021, 07:42 PM
Turkey stun Netherlands in thrilling World Cup qualifier

Netherlands began their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with a surprise defeat by Turkey.

The Dutch, runners up in 2010, fell behind when Burak Yilmaz's deflected shot wrong-footed goalkeeper Tim Krul.

Yilmaz then converted a penalty before Hakan Calhanoglu curled in a third.

Memphis Depay saw a late spot-kick saved for the Dutch, who threatened to fight back via goals from Davy Klaassen and Luuk de Jong, but Yilmaz's superb free-kick rounded off the scoring.

It proved a difficult evening for the Netherlands who initially struggled to trouble Ugurcan Cakır in the Turkey goal.

Matthijs de Ligt went close to scoring for the Dutch just before half-time but his header was cleared off the line.

And while two goals in the space of two minutes, from substitutes Klaassen and De Jong, gave them a way back into the contest, they were second best for long periods.

Source: BBC