- Portugal are through to the round of 16
- Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes got on the scoresheet in a 3-0 win
- Player ratings from the crucial victory at Signal Iduna Park
Portugal swept aside Turkey with impressive ease to book their place in the Euro 2024 knockout rounds.
Goals from Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and a comical own goal from Samet Akaydin earned Portugal a statement 3-0 victory of a talented Turkey outfit at Signal Iduna Park.
The win sees Roberto Martinez's side top Group F with one game of the group stages left to go.
How the game unfolded
Cheered on by a buoyant Turkish support at Signal Iduna Park, Turkey started the game in the ascendancy and could've (probably should've) been one goal to the good inside the opening five minutes.
A wonderful sweeping move from left to right culminated in Zeki Celik drilling the ball low across the six-yard box and into the path of Kerim Akturkoglu who, remarkably, was unable to direct his flick effort goalward from two yards out.
Expectedly, Turkey were made to rue that miss chance soon after.
After a period of dominance, Portugual took the lead in the 20th minute through Bernardo Silva. The diminutive midfielder netted his first ever international tournament goal, wrapping his foot around a cut-back cross from Nuno Mendes to sweep the ball into the right corner of the net.
Things went from bad to worse for Turkey just eight minute later, when a defensive calamity gifted Portugal a second goal.
Samet Akaydin's criminal no-look back pass rolled past the on-rushing Altay Bayindir and then over his own goal line soon after.
Portugal continued their dominance into the second half, capitalising on yet more disastrous defending from Turkey to make it 3-0. Cristiano Ronaldo, played onside by a seemingly asleep Zeki Celik, raced clean through on goal before square to Bruno Fernandes for a simple tap-in.
After the third went in it was pretty plain sailing for Portugal, with Turkey rarely looking remotely capable of creating a chance, and Martinez's talented midfield bunch keeping hold of the ball with relative ease.
Turkey player ratings
GK: Altay Bayindir - 5/10 - Left high and dry by his defence on the day.
RB: Zeki Celik - 2/10 - Gifted Portugal their third goal by standing five yards behind the rest of the defensive line.
CB: Samet Akaydin - 2/10 - Scored a very embarrassing own goal in the first half.
CB: Abdulkerim Bardakci - 4/10 - Struggled to get anywhere near Ronaldo.
LB: Ferdi Kadioglu - 4/10 - Couldn't deal with Silva's movement infield.
CM: Orkun Kokcu - 3/10 - A passenger and rightfully subbed off at half-time.
CM: Hakan Calhanoglu - 4/10 - He couldn't get his foot on the ball in midfield.
CM: Kaan Ayhan - 4/10 - Struggled up against a hugely gifted Portugal midfield three.
RW: Yunus Akgun - 5/10 - Lively at the start of the game but faded shortly after.
ST: Baris Yilmaz - 3/10 - Had exactly zero shots on goal.
LW: Kerem Akturkoglu - 4/10 - Missed a glorious chance early on. If he'd scored, it may have been a very different game.
Substitutes:
SUB: Yusuf Yazici (45' for Kokcu) - 5/10
SUB: Kenan Yildiz (58' for Akturkoglu) - 5/10
SUB: Ismail Yuksek (58' for Ayhan) - 5/10
SUB: Arda Guler (70' for Akgun) - 5/10
SUB: Merih Demiral (75' for Akaydin) - 5/10
Manager - Vincenzo Montella - 3/10 - Leaving Kenan Yildiz and Arda Guler on the bench seemed like a silly thing to do. And, guess what? It was.
Portugal player ratings
GK: Diogo Costa - 5/10 - Made three saves, but none of note.
RB: Joao Cancelo - 6/10 - Linked up well with Silva on the right flank, providing overlapping runs while Silva drifted infield.
CB: Pepe - 7/10 - Made a few crucial challenges when the game was level at 0-0.
CB: Ruben Dias - 6/10 - The Man City man didn't have too much to do.
LB: Nuno Mendes - 7/10 - Set up Bernardo Silva's goal and got forward well throughout.
CM: Vitinha - 8/10 - Won the midfield battle through powerful running, clever use of the ball and some strong challenges. All-round good outing.
CM: Joao Palhinha - 6/10 - His inclusion in the starting lineup provided Portugal with much more balance in the middle of the park.
CM: Bruno Fernandes - 7/10 - Looked more comfortable in the midfield three. Scored in the second half too. Nice one.
RW: Bernardo Silva - 8/10 - Finally scored his first ever goal at an international tournament. Dictated the whole tempo of the game too. Top performance.
ST: Cristiano Ronaldo - 7/10 - Caused problems with his movement throughout, and unselfishly teed up Fernandes for his goal in the second half.
LW: Rafael Leao - 3/10 - Booked once again for diving and is now set to miss the final game of the group stages.
Substitutes:
SUB: Pedro Neto (45' for Leao) - 6/10
SUB: Ruben Neves (45' for Palhinha) - 6/10
SUB: Nelson Semedo (68' for Cancelo) - 6/10
SUB: Antonio Silva (83' for Pepe) - N/A
SUB: Joao Neves (88' for Vitinha) - N/A
Manager - Roberto Martinez - 7/10 - Opted to use a 4-3-3 for this one and it worked a treat. He simply can't try out a back three again.
