Nations League: Belgium Win 2-1 in Turkey as De Bruyne and De Ketelaere Turn It Around in Three Minutes
In Izmir Turkey take the lead on 20 minutes through Arda Güler's free kick, Belgium equalise on 27 through De Bruyne and lead on 30 through De Ketelaere: it finishes 2-1 and the Red Devils move second in Group A1.
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In Izmir Belgium beat Turkey 2-1 in the fifth round of Nations League Group A1 and move provisionally into second place with 9 points, behind France and ahead of Italy, who have 8. Turkey take the lead on 20 minutes through an Arda Güler free kick, the goal that had surprised the home crowd in the first half. Belgium react within three minutes: Kevin De Bruyne equalises on 27, set up by Jérémy Doku, and Charles De Ketelaere puts them ahead on 30, fed by Maxim De Cuyper. Turkey stay bottom with 0 points after five matches.
Belgium win in Turkey 2-1 and move provisionally into second place in Nations League Group A1, the same group Italy play in, behind France: ANSA reports it in a dispatch timed 20:05 on November 12, confirmed by the BBC's live page and official match data. The scene is the ISONEM Park Gürsel Aksel Stadyumu in Izmir, in front of 19,697 spectators according to the British broadcaster.
The goal that lit the match
Turkey go ahead on 20 minutes with an Arda Güler free kick. It is the only moment in which the hosts lead: the BBC's numbers show 7 shots on target to Belgium's 6, and possession in Turkey's favour (53.2% against 46.8%), yet the result turns anyway, and the result is the number that counts.
Three minutes to turn it around
Belgium answer immediately. On 27 minutes Kevin De Bruyne equalises, set up by Jérémy Doku; three minutes later, on 30, Charles De Ketelaere scores, fed by Maxim De Cuyper. That is the passage that decides the match: from there to 90 minutes the score does not change,
The table after five rounds
According to the BBC's standings, Group A1 has France top with 11 points, Belgium second with 9, Italy third with 8 and Turkey bottom with 0. Belgium's second place is 'provisional' — ANSA says so, writing while the group's other match was not yet over — and Italy still have a round to overturn it. On the same evening Italy and France finished 1-1, one of the results that weighs on the group's standings.
What the sources do not say
Neither outlet reports what the two coaches said after the match, and this piece does not invent it: from after the game we know the result and the table, not the story. Nor is there, in the Italian sources, any speculation about the future of the Turkey head coach, or any data on refereeing controversy: readers following the Nations League in the coming days will get the full picture. In recent cycles the network has covered Italy's tennis federation president on tennis and football and the other night of sport, the Dakar Youth Olympics.