Match Summary

England Team

Turkey Team

England made a lively start to this game and within seconds of the first whistle Harry Kane so nearly put Jamie Vardy in for a chance on goal, Vardy not quite reaching the pass.  In the third minute though England did score, although there was an element of luck involved.  Good close work by Raheem Sterling saw him find Deli Alli, and the midfielder's flick set up Kane who confidently side-footed the ball past the goalkeeper.  It was a well taken goal, but replays showed that Kane was offside.  Those things usually go against England but not this time and the goal was given.

Rarely has an International been so open, so early in the match, and on five minutes only a wonderful block tackle by Kyle Walker saved England, with their defence at sixes and sevens.  The action continued and Cenk Tosun, a thorn throughout, forced Joe Hart into his first save,  low down at his near post.  Those warnings were not heeded by England and following another spirited attack by the Turks, the visitors finally scored their first ever goal against England.  A pass inside Danny Rose sent Volkan Sen away and, as Hart came out to try to block at his feet, the ball went across goal and eventually found Hakan Calhanoglu who was left with an easy tap-in.  It was a well taken, and deserved equaliser for Turkey, but it has to be said that leading up to the goal England's defence made several mistakes between them, exposing the frailties that we all worry about.

In the 17th minute Kane, who seemed to be the nominated free-kick taker for England on the night, made a mess of his first effort, and not for the last time either.  And it took 22 minutes before we had the first real sighting of Jack Wilshere, who picked up possession on the right, cut inside, and hit a low shot which the goalkeeper Volkan Babacan easily saved at his near post.

By now the game had become scrappy as Turkey gave away a number of free-kicks and England struggled to make their passing count.  It was slow and ponderous from the home players and the game looked more and more like a practise match for a while.  Having said that, some of the Turkish challenges were rather meaty and the England players were in danger of injury at times.

On 29 minutes Eric Dier headed wide from a Wilshere corner, Kane forced the keeper into another save a minute later and then Oguzhan Oyzakup was booked for a foul, not his first and certainly not his last firm tackle of the night.

With 35 minutes gone Turkey began to sit back and protect their draw and it gave England the chance to play the ball around, gaining confidence through having more possession, but whereas Turkey's midfield had been nippy and mobile, England's was rather static and sedate.  A good break by the ever-willing Rose found Vardy in space, but his shot was blocked, and that ended a disappointing half for England, who did look a little disjointed at times.  The half-time chat with the manager was needed at that point.

England came out of the blocks well after the restart, immediately going on to the front foot.  Alli teed up Vardy, but his shot was blocked and then some good play by England was only ended when Kane was caught offside.  On 53 minutes though Tosun was again left unmarked as he headed wide, and then a turn and shot a minute later by the same player was just a little too close for comfort as far as England were concerned.  In this spell Turkey seemed to be winning all the second balls and England could not clear their lines.  Calhanoglu's glancing header caused England all sorts of problems until Rose cleared the ball for a corner.  Sterling then made a good break down the right to relieve the pressure, but his cross was poor and there was nobody to meet it.

On 66 minutes Wilshere's quiet match was over, valuable game time for the Arsenal man following his injury riddled season, but his ineffectiveness is something Roy Hodgson will have to look at.  On came Jordan Henderson, another recovering from injury, and then Turkey made several changes too.  Four minutes later and there was a golden chance for England.  A mistake by a Turkey defender gave Vardy a typical run at goal, something he has done successfully for Leicester all season.  As he reached the penalty area he turned across Mehmet Topal and the Turkish captain clumsily bundled him over.  It was reminiscent of the incident against West Ham when Vardy was sent off for diving, but there was a definite arm across Vardy, and at that pace any contact was going to bring him down.  As it turned out, it didn't matter as Kane's spot-kick was hit well enough, but not accurately enough, and the ball went wide, off the outside of the left-hand post.

Three minutes later Danny Drinkwater came on for Sterling and soon afterwards, more good work by the hard running Walker set up Kane again, but this time the Spurs forward fouled a defender before heading for goal.  On 83 minutes England won a corner on the right.  Over came the cross and Gary Cahill rose well to head down towards the corner.  Babacan dived to parry the ball but in so doing collided with his defender on the line.  The ball ran free and there was Vardy to smash a shot at goal and the ball went in off the keeper's head!

This was now a good test for England ahead of the forthcoming European Championship tournament, with just seven minutes to go, could they hold on to their lead?  Turkey upped the pace and pushed forward, but in the main England stood up to the challenge well, showing determination and some good skill, with Cahill and John Stones battling for everything.  In fact England came close again when Vardy fed Kane and the striker shot just over.  The one final scare came in the third minute of stoppage time.  For once the defence was exposed and in came Topal to fire in a shot that was brilliantly saved by Hart as he deflected the shot with a strong right hand and Stones completed the clearance.  It was a narrow squeak, but overall England deserved their bit of luck, and they finally saw it through to end Turkey's long unbeaten run.

Although there were plenty of plus signs there was also plenty to work on for Roy Hodgson and his staff.  Hart needs to improve his distribution, the defenders need to make the right decisions at the right times, the midfield needs to show more energy and the strikers need to keep scoring!  Other than that it was fine!  Onwards and upwards.
   

Source Notes