Wales’ Euro 2024 qualification hopes suffered another blow with a 2-0 defeat to Turkey as they once again finished with 10 men.
Substitutes Umut Nayir and Arda Guler scored in the final 18 minutes on a chaotic night in Samsun when Turkey had two goals disallowed, a penalty saved and Wales midfielder Joe Morrell was sent off before half-time.
Wales were reduced to 10 for the second successive game – and for the third time in six matches – four minutes before the break when Morrell caught Ferdi Kadioglu with his studs.
It was a stupid challenge and from that moment Wales, despite no lack of effort or brave defending, were heading for a second crushing loss in four days.
The pressure on manager Rob Page had been ramped up by Friday’s shock 4-2 home defeat to Armenia – opponents ranked 97 in the world.
There was more bad news before kick-off as Armenia’s stoppage-time penalty secured a 2-1 win over Latvia and took them above Wales, who dropped to fourth in Group D.
After a poor World Cup when Wales finished bottom of their group and scored a solitary penalty, some fans voiced their frustration as Page attempted to explain the reasons behind a terrible run of one win in 11 games.
Page said Wales were a team in transition after the departures of Gareth Bale, Joe Allen and others, and two more senior players were also absent at a noisy Samsun 19 Mayis Stadium.
Vice-captain Ben Davies had stayed at home for the birth of his first child and Kieffer Moore was suspended after being sent off against Armenia.
Neco Williams and Morrell filled the gap as Page began by using Brennan Johnson as a lone striker.
Turkey were buoyed by Friday’s last-gasp 3-2 win in Latvia that had taken them top and were seeking to avenge their defeat to Wales at the Euro 2020 finals in Baku.
Johnson showed his pace early on to fire into the side-netting, but there was a worrying moment for Wales as the Nottingham Forest forward gingerly got back on his feet.
Turkey thought they had taken the lead after nine minutes when Chris Mepham turned Zeki Celik’s cross into his own net.
But after a VAR glitch where the usual on-screen lines to determine offside could not be used, referee Fabio Maresca went to the pitchside monitor himself to judge whether the goal should stand.
Much to Wales’ relief, the Italian official ruled that Celik was in an offside position when he received the ball and the goal was disallowed.
Kerem Akturkoglu sent the first shot in anger over the crossbar and Harry Wilson’s free-kick was deflected for a corner.
But the contest tilted Turkey’s way near half-time as Morrell left Kadioglu in a heap with a tender thigh – a challenge that Maresca correctly ruled as serious foul play.
Danny Ward held Orkun Koku’s stinging effort but Turkey goalkeeper Mert Gunok was stretched even further just after the restart by Wilson’s 25-yard free-kick, with Dan James unable to make the most of the rebound.
The match was being played almost entirely in the Wales half and Turkey were presented with a golden opportunity to break the deadlock after 64 minutes when skipper Aaron Ramsey handled Kadioglu’s cross.
Calhanoglu smashed his penalty to Ward’s right but the goalkeeper guessed correctly and pushed the ball away.
Turkey did have the ball in the Wales net moments later, only for Umut’s effort to be ruled out for handball.
But Nayir was not to be denied a second time after 72 minutes, the substitute’s header crossing the line despite the best efforts of Ward to keep it out.
Guler ended the contest 10 minutes from time with a spectacular effort, leaving Wales with much to do in the second half of the campaign to book an automatic qualifying place for next summer’s finals in Germany and not rely on the play-offs route.
Cabal becomes second Juventus defender to suffer ACL injury
Juventus' Juan Cabal will undergo surgery after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, intensifying the Serie A giants' defensive injury crisis.
The 23-year-old was forced to return to Turin after injuring his knee during training with the Colombia national team ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Ecuador.
Cabal is the second Juventus defender to suffer an ACL injury this season after Gleison Bremer, who hurt his left knee during their 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig last month.
Cabal has so far made nine appearances across all competitions this season.
Juventus are sixth in the Serie A standings and 11th in the Champions League's new-look league phase.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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