LEIPZIG.- Merih Demiral scored twice to send Türkiye to the quarter-finals of the Eurocup on Tuesday, with a 2-1 victory over Austria.
Demiral opened the scoring after less than a minute and scored again in the second half for the Turks, who face the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday.
Michael Gregoritsch brought the Austrians close in the 66th minute. Towards the end of the match, Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok made one of the best saves of the tournament, preventing Christoph Baumgartner from equalising after a header.
Tuesday’s game got off to a fiery start. Both teams had chances in the first 30 seconds and Demiral scored in the first minute after the Austrian defence failed to clear the ball that came into their area from a corner.
Baumgartner’s attempt to clear the ball bounced off the back of teammate Stefan Posch and onto goalkeeper Patrick Pentz, who cleared it off the line. But Demiral pounced on the rebound and scored.
Historical both:
UEFA officially registered the goal after 57 seconds, making it the second-fastest goal in Euro history. Albania scored after 23 seconds against Italy in the group stage.
Austria came close to responding, but Demiral did just enough to prevent Baumgartner from scoring over the line.
After the break, Arda Guler delivered a perfect corner kick for Demiral to head in his second goal in the 59th minute. A shower of beer glasses was not enough to distract Guler from taking the corner.
Michael Gregoritsch was free at the far post for Austria’s extra time after another corner in the 66th, but neither team could add to the challenge despite a flurry of chances in the rain.
Earlier, the Netherlands thrashed Romania 3-0 to advance.
