Turkey suffers disappointing draw at home to Montenegro

ANKARA

Turkey suffered an upsetting 2-2 draw at home to Montenegro in a 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Group G match Wednesday after a very late free kick goal by the visitors.

Following a solo effort, Turkish midfielder Cengiz Under curled a spectacular goal outside the area to draw first blood in the ninth minute.

Another Turkish player, Yusuf Yazici, doubled the lead in the 31st minute, scoring an easy goal in the box.

Yazici was unmarked near the Montenegrin goal to make a firm finish.

That goal came through decent teamwork including several passes between Turkish players, especially a low pass from the byline, which was the assist produced by Under.

In the 40th minute, Montenegro narrowed the gap to one.

Midfielder Adam Marusic beat Turkey's offside trap to score a one-on-one against Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

Turkey led the first half 2-1 at Istanbul's Vodafone Park but were stunned after Montenegro's free kick goal in the 97th minute.

Montenegrin defender Risto Radunovic fired a decisive left-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area to equalize, and the match ended 2-2.

Turkey are still the leaders in Group G with 8 points that they earned in four matches.

But the Netherlands, Montenegro and Norway are hot on Turkey's trail with 7 points each as the group is likely to see a tight race for the top spot.

Latvia have 4 points so far.

Gibraltar - the Group G underdogs - lost all four of their matches to bottom the group.

In the next fixture, Turkey will visit Gibraltar on Saturday.

- Wednesday's results in Group G

Turkey - Montenegro: 2-2

Latvia - Gibraltar: 3-1

Norway - Netherlands: 1-1