Czech Republic vs Turkey. European Championships Group F.
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Report from Euro 2024 as Turkey strike late to beat eliminated Czech Republic 2-1 and set up last-16 clash with Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday; Antonin Barak shown controversial early red card before Hakan Cahanoglu opener; Tomas Soucek equalised before injury-time Cenk Tosun winner
Wednesday 26 June 2024 22:32, UK
Turkey set up a last-16 tie with Austria with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic, who were left to wonder whether a controversial red card may have cost them progression.
The Czechs, who knew only a win would be enough to see them through, started brightly but were dealt a huge blow when Antonin Barak was shown a harsh second yellow card after only 20 minutes, when he appeared to be fouled himself.
Ivan Hasek's side continued to fight wilfully and had the best chance of the opening half when David Jurasek was denied by Mert Gunok after Filip Chytil had played him through on the break.
But Turkey regrouped at the interval and finally took the lead when Hakan Calhanoglu's excellent finish left Jindrich Stanek with no chance from a tight angle.
Turkey should have doubled their lead after Baris Yilmaz put the ball on a plate for Arda Guler with a low cross which the Real Madrid prodigy missed entirely.
Within seconds he was made to pay as Tomas Soucek fired the Czechs level, after substitute Tomas Chory had stood his ground to hold off Gunok from a throw-in.
VAR checked and saw no issue with the goal, which infuriated the Turkish bench to the point referee Istvan Kovacs immediately booked two of those sat in the dugout.
Both sides traded blows in the final 20 minutes as the Czech Republic searched in vain for the winner which would take them through, and instead were left with nothing to show for their efforts as Cenk Tosun's injury-time winner gave Turkey victory.
They will now play Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday, with the winner of that game facing either Romania or the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Card-happy Kovacs' work was not complete at the final whistle, with Chory shown a red card for a post-match scuffle, and Soucek and Guler both booked - taking the number of cards shown to 21 in total.
Sky Sports' Ron Walker:
"This looked the moment the Czech Republic finally found their rhythm under new head coach Ivan Hasek, taking charge of only his seventh match at the helm.
"But 20 minutes in, that all changed when Istvan Kovacs issued an incredibly harsh second booking to Antonin Barak.
"We've seen in the Premier League complaints that VAR cannot intervene on second yellows - it feels even more nonsensical in such a short tournament format like this.
"It set the tone for a game where Kovacs got his cards out a further 19 times, with tempers regularly threatening to spill over and both sides making the most of the most ordinary of challenges.
"In spite of their numerical disadvantage, the Czech Republic fought on and in both halves looked the team more likely to win at times, until they were caught out late on when pushing for the winner they knew they needed.
"This one will sting doubly hard for Hasek and his entire country given the feeling of injustice involved. So little surprise at the final whistle that tempers should boil over as they did - and even less surprise Kovacs had his cards out again."
