De Bruyne & Belgium blow Turkey away to continue strong start to life under Van Bommel

[p]Looking to learn their lesson from last time out against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/hlKvieGH/"]Italy[/a] – where a tentative first-half display put them out of reach by half-time – [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/turkey/QeijuHo5/"]Turkey[/a] started with more vigour, but it was ultimately to their detriment.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-bruyne-kevin/MsPs6OI5/"]De Bruyne[/a] was granted enough space in midfield to venture forward and play a one-two with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lukebakio-dodi/08a9jhm9/"]Dodi Lukebakio[/a], and on receiving the ball back he slid it through the legs of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bardakci-abdulkerim/KKx4FhJ9/"]Abdulkerim Bardakci[/a] and brilliantly placed it into the near bottom corner from the edge of the box.[/b][/p][embed guid="a737eb22-8793-4902-9d9e-574ad44f12f3" url="https://x.com/UEFAEURO/status/2106098662380335529" social-type="twitter" /][p]But Turkey were determined to make their game plan work, and went close on numerous occasions during the remainder of a breathless, end-to-end 45 minutes.[/p][p]Everything went through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guler-arda/CUU9qDpb/"]Arda Guler[/a], who delivered free-kicks for both Bardakci and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/demiral-merih/MRw4A5FO/"]Merih Demiral[/a] to go close with headers, and tested [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lammens-senne/UFssg7X4/"]Senne Lammens[/a] with a curling effort of his own.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a] were also hoping to counter-attack their way to victory, and it was a wonder that the sides went into the break at 1-0 as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vanaken-hans/0Cu4qHps/"]Hans Vanaken[/a]’s backheel flick and a powerful strike from Lukebakio were both saved by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cakir-ugurcan/p858Jtvs/"]Ugurcan Cakir[/a], the latter going out via the near post.[/p][p]The half ended with the visitors coming perhaps their closest yet, with Demiral spooning over at the far post when presented with a virtually open goal.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="63438096-19d0-4474-b81b-0090390016d6" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="e24a3763-f218-4f16-98ab-376085193e3e" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]And there was hardly any change to the style of play in the second half, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kadioglu-ferdi/CtCaHRd7/"]Ferdi Kadioglu[/a] curled wide and Lukebakio smashed against the near post again.[/p][p][b]But lightning was to strike for a second time when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tielemans-youri/GtkTQyib/"]Youri Tielemans[/a] stole it off [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/akgun-yunus/GMMnzfim/"]Yunus Akgun[/a] and laid it off outside the area for De Bruyne, who executed a perfect curling shot into the top corner. [/b][/p][p][b]The Crescent-Stars continued to work hard to get a foothold in the game, but the result was finally sealed when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-ketelaere-charles/2eOa3r1T/"]Charles De Ketelaere[/a] took on a quick free-kick and delivered it to the six-yard box, where substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lukaku-romelu/dCkG0Iw0/"]Romelu Lukaku[/a] was waiting to touch it into the net.[/b][/p][p]If there was anything to dampen Belgian spirits it was that yellow cards for Tielemans and De Bruyne meant that the midfield pair will be unavailable to play [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/QkGeVG1n/"]France[/a] on Monday.[/p][p]Vincenzo Montella will be scratching his head at how this international window has panned out, with his side arguably being the stronger team in all three of their defeats.[/p][p]Belgium, meanwhile, get back to winning ways after a defeat to France, which was their first on home turf since November 2024. They now have two wins from their first three matches under new coach Mark van Bommel, having also beaten Italy.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-bruyne-kevin/MsPs6OI5/"]Kevin De Bruyne[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/belgium-GbB957na/turkey-7s-QeijuHo5/?mid=2gkhFH2m"]Click here for more on the match[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="a0b5149a-00b7-4c0c-be10-4f027d9f2944" url="https://x.com/BelRedDevils/status/2106121676400595431" social-type="twitter" /]