As with Liverpool, Anthony Taylor makes a fool of himself again in the Euro qualifiers

Turkey take top spot in Group D of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. The Turks managed to get the victory in their visit to the Opus Arena against Croatia. With the defeat, the Balkan side's qualification for the European Championships has become more difficult. With three games left to play, Croatia must win all of them if they are to finish top of the group and overtake Turkey, who currently lead the group by three points. Despite arriving as leaders and hosts, Croatia failed to get the result. The Manteliers had a few dangerous chances, but were stopped by Turkey's disciplined defence which allowed only six shots on target in the entire match.

The Turks took the chances they had and in the 30th minute Galatasaray striker Barış Alper Yılmaz popped up to give his team the lead, which at the end of 90 minutes would be more than enough to take the result. Croatia were left with 10 points and suffered their first defeat of the qualifiers. The Balkans still have a three-point lead over third and fourth place, however, they are forced to not lose a single one of their remaining three matches. Turkey must win against Latvia and Wales to secure their place at next year's European Championships. Goal difference will be important if Croatia win all three of their remaining matches.

The most striking thing about this match was also that the English referee Anthony Taylor was appointed by UEFA to referee it despite the constant mistakes he has made in the Premier League against Liverpool in the match against Brighton where he failed to send off a Seagulls player and failed to award at least two penalties and recently also in the Champions League.

The controversy

In the 91st minute, with Turkey 1-0 up, Taylor awarded a penalty to Croatia, judging Calhanoglu's handball in the box to be irregular. The protests from Montella's team were immediate, with the touch clearly on the shoulder, not the arm. To save the England referee from another refereeing error, the VAR stepped in, calling Taylor to change the decision, overturning the penalty.