- Turkey caused a defensive disaster on Saturday and gifted Portugal a goal
- Defender Akaydin pushed the ball into his own net after a miscommunication
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Turkish defender Samet Akaydin scored a disastrous own goal against Portugal after firing the ball past goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and into his own net during Euro 2024 on Saturday.
Roberto Martinez’s side, who took the lead in the 21st minute through Bernardo Silva, were given the absolute gift of being two goals ahead in Dortmund after Akaydin’s no-look back pass curled past Man United stopper Bayindir.
The goal was so unexpected that cameras were turned to Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo, assuming Akaydin would be able to deal with the danger comfortably, quickly switching back to see Bayindir and Zeki Celik storming back to the goal line in an attempt to correct the disastrous mistake to rescue.
Unfortunately for United’s Bayindir, he was unable to prevent the ball from going over the line and was left stunned as he argued with teammates.
Fans flooded social media to react to the disastrous mistake, with many supporters seeing the funny side.
Man United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir was involved in a disastrous own goal against Portugal
Turkish star Samet Akaydin (bottom left) passed the ball back without looking at his teammate
Bayindir and Zeki Celik scrambled back in the hope of clearing the ball, but it went over the line
One said, ending his post with a laughing emoji: “That own goal was so funny.”
A second post on
Another, perhaps more sympathetically, added: “What a crazy mistake.”
One account chose to post a series of “laughing emojis” as they responded to a clip of the defensive mishap on X.
Turkey’s fortunes went from bad to worse in the second half, after another bit of lax defending allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to get through on goal, before squaring it for Bruno Fernandes to make it 3-0.
Earlier in the match, Portuguese star Ronaldo turned back the years after using his iconic step-overs to get past a defender.
Fans flocked to social media to react to Turkey’s disastrous own goal against the Portuguese
The 39-year-old first made a name for himself by producing silky smooth skills, but unsurprisingly he has slowed down in recent years.
However, he was at it again against Turkey as he dropped defender Abduelkerim Bardakci to the ground with step-overs before feeding a cross to Rafael Leao.
Portugal maintained their lead, winning the match 3–0 and in turn securing a place in the last 16 of Euro 2024.