Turkey set up a last-16 tie with Austria with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic, who were left to wonder whether a controversial red card may have cost them progression.
The Czechs, who knew only a win would be enough to see them through, started brightly but were dealt a huge blow when Antonin Barak was shown a harsh second yellow card after only 20 minutes, when he appeared to be fouled himself.
Ivan Hasek’s side continued to fight wilfully and had the best chance of the opening half when David Jurasek was denied by Mert Gunok after Filip Chytil had played him through on the break.
But Turkey regrouped at the interval and finally took the lead when Hakan Calhanoglu’s excellent finish left Jindrich Stanek with no chance from a tight angle.
Turkey should have doubled their lead after Baris Yilmaz put the ball on a plate for Arda Guler with a low cross which the Real Madrid prodigy missed entirely.
Within seconds he was made to pay as Tomas Soucek fired the Czechs level, after substitute Tomas Chory had stood his ground to hold off Gunok from a throw-in.
VAR checked and saw no issue with the goal, which infuriated the Turkish bench to the point referee Istvan Kovacs immediately booked two of those sitting in the dugout.
Both sides traded blows in the final 20 minutes as the Czech Republic searched in vain for the winner which would take them through, and instead were left with nothing to show for their efforts as Cenk Tosun’s injury-time winner gave Turkey victory.
They will now play Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday, with the winner of that game facing either Romania or the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
