Australia get World Cup campaign underway with victory against Turkey

Chances were hard to come by early in this one, with the best one falling the way of Arda Güler, who linked up well with captain Orkun Kökçü only to fire over the bar.

Ferdi Kadıoğlu’s effort had a similar outcome before Barış Yılmaz picked out Güler with a ball from the left, which was met with a first-time volley that Beach did well to hold.

Australia had offered precious little, but they caught Turkey out against the run of play just before the half-hour mark. Paul Okon-Engstler sent a long ball for Nestory Irankunda to chase, and the Watford forward showed superb footwork to beat the Turkish defence and rifle a low shot past Uğurcan Çakır, becoming the Socceroos’ youngest WC goal-scorer in the process.

Turkey’s best response was a wild effort from Kökçü, shortly before Çakır repelled another Irankunda effort on the stroke of HT.

Talismanic winger Kenan Yıldız was not deemed fit enough to start, but the Juventus man was introduced at HT by Vincenzo Montella as the Crescent Stars looked to get back into their first WC finals match since finishing third in 2002.

Some early second-half pressure towards the Australia goal saw a deflected effort from İsmail Yüksek wrong-foot Melbourne City stopper Beach, but ultimately land on the other side of the post.

At the other end, Harry Souttar was left dangerously free at a corner, yet his resulting header was parried away by Çakır.

Tony Popovic’s men were under the cosh but almost repeated the trick of the first half by scoring against the run of play as Jordan Bos’ effort from a narrow angle whistled over the top.

At the other end, Beach was at it again, denying Zeki Çelik from a narrow angle, which proved critical as his nation doubled their lead in the 75th minute through Connor Metcalfe, who strode forward and hammered a low, hard shot into the bottom corner from outside the area.

Beach must have felt like he had magnets in his gloves as everything Turkey threw at him stuck, and he held on to Kerem Aktürkoğlu’s point-blank volley shortly after Metcalfe’s strike, ultimately helping his side see out the win with a tournament-high eight saves.

Australia will now take this momentum into their clash with co-hosts USA in Seattle on Friday, while Turkey will be aiming to bounce back against Paraguay in Santa Clara later that evening.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Patrick Beach (Australia)

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