Leipzig – Germany — Merih Demiral scored twice to take Turkey into the European Championship quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over Austria on Tuesday.
Demiral opened the scoring less than a minute later and scored again in the second half to set up the clash against the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday. After Michael Gregoritsch pulled one back for Austria in the 66th minute, Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok made one of the tournament’s stoppage-time saves to deflect Christoph Baumgartner’s header from close range to prevent a draw.
Tuesday’s game started fiercely. Both teams had chances in the first 30 seconds and Demiral scored in the first minute after the Austrian defense failed to deal with a corner.
Baumgartner’s attempted clearance bounced off teammate Stefan Posch to goalkeeper Patrick Pentz, who hit it over the line only for Demiral to pounce on the rebound and score.
UEFA scored the goal after 57 seconds, making it the second fastest ever at the Euros. Albania scored later 23 seconds against Italy in the group stage.
Austria almost responded, but Demiral did enough to prevent Baumgartner from scoring on the line.
The Austrians pressed hard for the equalizer, but the Turkish players matched their intensity and could have scored more – Turkish star Arda Guler tried his luck from distance and Demiral was close to the corner.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick responded at half-time, sending forward Michael Gregoritsch to partner Marko Arnautovic, who saw Gunok deny him a one-on-one.
A corner gave Turkey some rest. A shower of beer glasses fell on Guler, but he was not discouraged as he delivered a perfect cross for Demiral to head in his second goal in the 59th minute.
Gregoritsch was free at the far post for Austria to respond after another corner, but neither team managed to score more despite a series of opportunities in the rain, with Gunok making his biggest save in the final seconds.
Both teams were without their captains. Turkey’s Hakan Calhanoglu was suspended and Austria’s David Alaba, arguably the country’s best player, is still recovering from a knee injury which prevented him from playing in the tournament.,
Alaba was there to support the team, who surprisingly topped the group with France and the Netherlands, and shared a warm hug with Guler, his Real Madrid teammate, before kick-off.
The Netherlands previously defeated Romania 3-0 to progress.
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