EURO 2024: Round of 16 – Day 4
Fans Inspired Turkey to Heroic Feat Against Austria in a Titanic Clash; Gakpo Led the Netherlands to a Romp Over Romania
Turkey held off Austria in a spectacular match. A goal in the first minute was scored by a defender, who then scored two more.
The Netherlands decisively outplayed Romania and won the Euro 2024 round of 16 match at the Allianz Arena 3-0.
Cody Gakpo and Donyell Malen became the heroes for Ronald Koeman’s team, with Malen scoring twice.
In the sixth minute, the first good chance of the match came for the Netherlands.
Xavi Simons broke through on the left and delivered a shot on goal, but Florin Niță made the save.
In the 14th minute, Romania had their first scoring opportunity.
Dennis Man passed through several Dutch players and unleashed a dangerous shot towards the top right corner, but the ball went just inches over the goal.
In the 20th minute, the Netherlands took the lead. Xavi Simons passed to Cody Gakpo, who made a brilliant run down the left, eliminating Andrei Rațiu, and struck a shot into the near right corner, beating Niță for 0-1!
In the 25th minute, the Dutch nearly scored a second goal.
From a corner kick, Memphis Depay placed the ball on Stefan de Vrij’s head, who directed it towards the near left corner, creating the illusion of a goal, but the shot hit the side netting.
Ronald Koeman’s players pressed on, creating several chances in the following minutes.
In the 44th minute, Denzel Dumfries stole the ball in Romania’s penalty area and passed to Xavi Simons, who hesitated and shot weakly wide of the goal.
In the first minute of added time, Denis Drăguș advanced from the left and took a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but the ball went over the Dutch goal.
The Dutch started the second half strongly, and in the 59th minute, they had a golden opportunity for a second goal.
From a corner, the ball reached Virgil van Dijk, who headed it, but hit the left post.
In the 63rd minute, after a corner kick, there was a scramble in Romania’s penalty area.
Jeredy Schouten picked up the ball on the right and returned it to the penalty area.
Donyell Malen deflected it to Gakpo, who put it into the net, but it was ruled offside, and the goal was disallowed.
Five minutes later, Memphis Depay shot dangerously low under Romania’s wall from a free kick, but the ball went just below the goal.
In the 73rd minute, the Dutch were again close to scoring, as Joey Veerman was set up on the left and narrowly missed the goal.
In the 83rd minute, the inevitable happened, and the Netherlands scored a second goal.
Memphis Depay received a throw-in, and continued the ball to Cody Gakpo, who made a perfect run, found Donyell Malen at the edge of the box, and Malen easily scored into the empty net for 2-0 in favor of the Dutch.
Deep into added time, the Netherlands scored a third goal.
Xavi Simons sent a through ball to Malen, who advanced brilliantly down the left flank, reached a shooting position, and scored into the bottom right corner for 0-3.
The Netherlands will face Turkey in a quarterfinal clash after Vincenzo Montella’s team defeated Austria 2-1 in an intensely contested match at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, the last of the round of 16 matches in the continental tournament.
Turkey started the match with a bang, scoring the opening goal in less than 60 seconds.
Arda Güler sent in a corner. Christoph Baumgartner cleared the ball off Stefan Posch in Austria’s penalty area, and Patrick Pentz barely saved it off the goal line.
However, Merih Demiral was in the right place at the right time to send the ball into the net.
Christoph Baumgartner dribbled into Turkey’s penalty area in the second minute and shot towards the bottom right corner but missed the target.
In the 19th minute, Arda Güler attempted to lob Patrick Pentz from beyond the halfway line but missed the goal despite catching the keeper off guard.
Arda Güler sent a sharp corner to the near post in the 24th minute, and Merih Demiral rose highest in Austria’s penalty area, but his header went over the crossbar.
In the following minutes, the Austrians established sustained control over the ball but failed to create any danger in front of Mert Günok’s goal.
Marcel Sabitzer advanced down the right wing in the 45th minute, cutting the ball back to Baumgartner, who shot with his first touch but sent the ball wide of Turkey’s left post.
Austria started the second half strongly.
In the 46th minute, Christoph Baumgartner was set up on the right and crossed to Michael Gregoritsch, who shot but missed the right post of Günok’s goal.
In the 51st minute, Marko Arnautović was sent one-on-one with Mert Günok, but the Austrian captain’s shot was straight at the Turkish keeper, who closed down the angle to make a crucial save for his team.
Stefan Posch entered Turkey’s penalty area a minute later and shot low, but Merih Demiral blocked the shot.
Turkey doubled their lead in the 59th minute, with Merih Demiral the hero again. Arda Güler sent in a corner to the near post, where the central defender out jumped Kevin Danso to head the ball into the Austrian net for the second time.
Austria responded in the 66th minute when Marcel Sabitzer sent a corner to the near post in Turkey’s penalty area.
Stefan Posch flicked it on to Michael Gregoritsch, who scored from close range behind Mert Günok.
Florian Grillitsch unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of Turkey’s penalty area in the 75th minute, but Mert Günok saved it.
Marcel Sabitzer sent in a corner in the 85th minute, and Christoph Baumgartner beat Abdülkerim Bardakcı to send a shot just wide.
Barış Alper Yılmaz went one-on-one with Patrick Pentz deep into added time, but the Austrian keeper made a phenomenal save.
In the fifth minute of added time, the ball was launched into Turkey’s penalty area, and Baumgartner shot, but Mert Günok made the most crucial save for Turkey in the tournament.
