Euro 2024 Qualifiers: Turkey defeats Latvia 3-2 in a stoppage time thriller

Riga [Latvia], June 17 (ANI): A late stoppage time strike by Irfan Kahveci helped Turkey defeat Latvia by 3-2 in their Group D Euro 2024 Qualifiers match in Latvia on Friday.

Turkey is at the top of their Group D table with two wins and a loss in three matches, with six points in total. Latvia lays at the bottom, having lost both of their matches.
Abdulkerim Bardakci put Turkey on early advantage with a 22nd minute strike.

In the 51st minute, Eduards Emsis levelled the scores and put Latvia back into the game.

Turkey’s lead was restored with Cengiz Under scoring the second goal in 61st minute.

In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Kristers Tobers scored an equaliser for Latvia. But the very next minute, Irfan came through with a match-winning strike.

Earlier, Wales suffered a shocking 4-2 defeat to Armenia at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday in the UEFA EURO Qualifiers.

Wales is in Group D along with Turker, Croatia, Armenia and Latvia. After the loss to Armenia Wales’s chances to qualify for the UEFA EURO 2024 are at risk as they are third in the group. Only the top two teams in the group qualify for the tournament.

Wales started the match on a positive note as they opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the match. Daniel James scored the goal for Wales and gave them a 1-0 lead.

Armenia came back strongly as they scored in the 19th minute of the match to level the score. Lucas Zelarayan with his goal levelled the score at 1-1.

Grant-Leon Ranos scored in the 30th minute to give Armenia an upper hand in the game. Armenia came in a strong position as they lead 2-1.

In the second half, Grant-Leon Ranos scored in the 66th minute as Armenia lead 3-1.

Wales tried to come back in the game, Harry Wilson scored in the 72nd minute to give a slight chance for a comeback for Wales. The score after his goal was 3-1.

Armenia didn’t allow Wales to make a comeback as they scored just after three minutes. In the 75th minute, Lucas Zelarayan scored the fourth goal for Armenia.

If there was any chance left for Wales to salvage something from this match, it was run by Kieffer Moore. In the 78th minute of the match, Wales were down to 10 men as Kieffer Moore was shown a red card for his harsh tackle on an Armenian attacker.

Wales took 18 shots out of which only five were on target. Their possession of the ball during the game was 57 per cent. They completed a total of 471 passes with an accuracy of 83 per cent.

Armenia took 11 shots out of which four were on target. They had 43 per cent of possession on the ball during the match. They completed a total of 370 passes with an accuracy of 82 per cent.

In the UEFA EURO Qualifiers match on Saturday, England defeated Malta 4-0 in the Ta’ Qali National Stadium in Attard.

England are in Group C of the UEFA European Championship Qualifying. Along with them are Ukraine, Italy, North Macedonia and Malta.

England kicked off their campaign in winning style by defeating Malta and going to the top of Group C with three wins in three matches.

Malta faced hard luck as the first goal of the match was their own goal conceded by them. In the eighth minute, Ferdinando Apap scored an own goal and gave England a 1-0 lead.

The second goal was scored by England’s Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 28th minute. Arnold played in the midfield position for England in the match against Malta. This position was new for him as he usually plays defender. But he stood bright to the new task given to him by the manager. He scored from outside the penalty box and put the ball in the left corner of the net.

In the second half, Newcastle United’s striker Callum Wilson scored the fourth goal for England. He scored in the 83rd minute from the penalty spot to seal the game for England.

England took 16 shots out of which eight were on target. They had 66 per cent of possession on the ball during the game. They completed a total of 703 passes with an accuracy of 89 per cent.

Malta failed to register a single shot on target. They had 34 per cent of ball possession during the game. They completed 370 passes with an accuracy of 79 per cent.

The Three Lion’s next match will be against North Macedonia on June 20.