World Cup qualifier: Spain leave it late to beat Turkey
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| Semih Şentürk 26 | Xabi Alonso(pen) 60 | |||||||
| Albert Riera 90 |
A last-gasp strike from winger Albert Riera earned Spain a 2-1 victory over Turkey in Istanbul and further strengthened their stranglehold on Group 5.
The visitors came close to open the scoring when Riera sent a dipping 25-yard thunderbolt in the 13th minute, but Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel produced a brilliant one-handed reflex save to keep it out.
But on 26 minutes Spain found themselves a goal down. A long pass from Arda Turan into Spanish territory went to Tuncay Şanlı, and although the Middlesbrough player was unable to get a shot in himself, he set Semih Şentürk up for an easy tap-in.
Just minutes later, Turan made another cross which landed behind the Spanish defense but Şanlı failed to meet the ball.
Spain drew level on the hour mark when Xabi Alonso converted a penalty after İbrahim Üzülmez had handled the ball in the area following Fernando Torres' header at the far post.
Then came the knockout punch from the visitors in the second minute of injury time.
Substitute Dani Güiza went down the right flank and sent a low ball across the face of goal where Riera had the fairly simple task of side-footing past Demirel.
Lineups:
Turkey: Volkan Demirel; Hakan Balta, Emre Aşık, Gökhan Gönül, İbrahim Üzülmez; Mehmet Aurelio; Emre Belözoğlu, Tuncay Şanlı, Arda Turan (Nuri Şahin 88); Nihat Kahveci (Batuhan Karadeniz 77), Semih Şentürk (Sabri Sarıoğlu 81)
Spain: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Piqué, Marchena, Capdevila; Marcos Senna (Santi Cazorla 67); David Silva (Busquets 74), Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Riera; Fernando Torres (Dani Güiza 85)
Turkey v Spain goal & highlights
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The visitors came close to open the scoring when Riera sent a dipping 25-yard thunderbolt in the 13th minute, but Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel produced a brilliant one-handed reflex save to keep it out.
But on 26 minutes Spain found themselves a goal down. A long pass from Arda Turan into Spanish territory went to Tuncay Şanlı, and although the Middlesbrough player was unable to get a shot in himself, he set Semih Şentürk up for an easy tap-in.
Just minutes later, Turan made another cross which landed behind the Spanish defense but Şanlı failed to meet the ball.
Spain drew level on the hour mark when Xabi Alonso converted a penalty after İbrahim Üzülmez had handled the ball in the area following Fernando Torres' header at the far post.
Then came the knockout punch from the visitors in the second minute of injury time.
Substitute Dani Güiza went down the right flank and sent a low ball across the face of goal where Riera had the fairly simple task of side-footing past Demirel.
Lineups:
Turkey: Volkan Demirel; Hakan Balta, Emre Aşık, Gökhan Gönül, İbrahim Üzülmez; Mehmet Aurelio; Emre Belözoğlu, Tuncay Şanlı, Arda Turan (Nuri Şahin 88); Nihat Kahveci (Batuhan Karadeniz 77), Semih Şentürk (Sabri Sarıoğlu 81)
Spain: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Piqué, Marchena, Capdevila; Marcos Senna (Santi Cazorla 67); David Silva (Busquets 74), Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Riera; Fernando Torres (Dani Güiza 85)
Turkey v Spain goal & highlights
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