Turkey beat altered US lineup with last-minute goal

INGLEWOOD: Turkey beat a second-string United States side 3-2 with a last-gasp goal from Kaan Ayhan at Los Angeles Stadium on Thursday for their first win of the tournament, with the co-hosts having already won Group D and a place in the knockout round.

Kaan Ayhan scored on almost the last kick of the match in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time as Turkey stunned a makeshift US team 3-2 in Inglewood, California, on Thursday in the final World Cup Group D match.

Ayhan was in front of the net to poke in the ball as the US scrambled to cover.

Sebastian Berhalter produced a goal and an assist for the US, which failed in a bid to win all three group matches at a World Cup for the first time. Turkey led 2-1 at halftime.

The result did not matter for either team.

The US won their first two matches to advance, and they will face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 on July 1 in Santa Clara, California. Turkey were eliminated after losing 2-0 to Australia and 1-0 to Paraguay despite taking a combined 62 shots.

In a US lineup that had nine new starters from the team’s 2-0 win over Australia on June 19, Auston Trusty scored in the third minute off a corner kick by Berhalter. Midfielder Weston McKennie and forward Ricardo Pepi were the lone holdovers in the US lineup.

Turkey finally got their first goal of the tournament in the 10th minute when Arda Guler, a 21-year-old star for Real Madrid, tied it 1-1, and Baris Alper Yilmaz made it 2-1 in the 31st.

The US took the early lead when Trusty one-touched an in-swinger from the left side by Berhalter, whipping a shot to the near post for his first goal in 10 career matches for the national team.

However, the new-look US lineup looked disjointed, and Guler soon found space and scored off a pass by Yilmaz.

A minute after a potential Mark McKenzie goal from another set piece was called offside to deny a 2-1 US lead, Turkey completed a nice combination play with a goal. Orkun Kokcu took a shot that nicked off Yilmaz and went past Matt Turner, the 2022 World Cup starter who sat the first two matches in favour of Matt Freese.

Berhalter tied it 2-2 in the 49th minute after Turkey was unable to clear following a long throw-in. He was at the top of the box to lace a shot inside the left post.

Crucial for the US was the return of Christian Pulisic from a left calf injury, as the star winger entered in the 58th minute in place of Timothy Weah. Pulisic left at halftime of the opener against Paraguay and did not play against Australia.

Four minutes later, Pulisic got behind the defense, forcing a save by Ugurcan Cakir. Less than two minutes after that, a ball to Pulisic went off his shin and Cakir stretched to make a fingertip save at the top right corner.