NI suffer controversial defeat against Turkey

Michael McArdle suffered his first defeat as Northern Ireland boss as his side were controversially beaten 2-1 by Turkey in their penultimate World Cup qualifier at the Pendik Stadyumu. NI fell behind on 26 minutes as Melike Pekel bent a looping effort over Jackie Burns. McArdle's side responded well and levelled from the penalty spot through Megan Bell after a handball on the goal line by Busem Seker. The Turkish striker was only shown a yellow card for the incident and went on to score what proved to be the winner two minutes after the break as she headed home from Selen Altunkulak's cross. The result means that NI cannot catch Turkey in second and are set for a third-place finish in Group B2, although they are guaranteed a play-off in the autumn. Seker goal sinks NI in Istanbul Turkey started well in the sweltering Istanbul heat and forced Jackie Burns into action on 10 minutes. The NI stopper made a superb reflex save to tip Altunkulak's glancing header from Miray Cin's cross onto crossbar. She then did well to shovel another close-range header, this time from Seker, onto the post soon after. The breakthrough eventually arrived on 26 minutes as Bell surrendered possession and Turkey capitalised with Pekel curling home to finish off a quick counter-attack. NI were handed a lifeline close to the break as Fi Morgan's bundled effort from Bell's corner was stopped on the line by the hand of Seker. Controversy then ensued as, after four minutes of deliberation, referee Alexandra Collin awarded the spot kick, but only showed Seker a yellow card. Bell kept her composure and fired high into the roof of the net to draw the visitors level. Seker remaining on the pitch came back to haunt NI as she got on the end of Altunkulak's delivery to power home a header two minutes after the break. Substitute Danielle Maxwell missed a glorious chance to grab a late equaliser as, after being played through in the last minute, she shot straight at Gamze Yaman, who spread herself to thwart the effort. Analysis: NI to feel hard done by with handball call After the high of two good victories over Malta, Northern Ireland and McArdle have been brought back down to earth by this frustrating defeat against Turkey. The narrative of the defeat will no doubt focus on the impact of a refereeing error, but it once again highlighted how this young side are still in a transitional phase. They were disjointed from the off and seemed caught off guard by Turkey's aggressive press. Unlike in the home game against Necla Gungor's side, McArdle's side showed grit to respond after going behind to a preventable goal. They will feel hard done by that the handball from Seker wasn't punished by the brandishing of a deserved red card given that she went on to score the winning goal. But again, from an NI perspective, it was a preventable one as Burns coughed up possession easily for Altunkulak, who provided the cross for the goal. McArdle's side struggled to replicate some of their neat patterns of play that resulted in goals against Malta, highlighting the challenge ahead for the Scotsman when NI face higher quality opposition. The boss identified some of their problems and attempted to tweak their set up, highlighted by the half-time introductions of Maxwell and Casey Howe, but they had little impact. With Malta set to fall to defeat against Switzerland they will get a World Cup play-off, but as an unseeded team, have a difficult route ahead if they are to make a maiden appearance at the tournament in Brazil. They will have to be much-improved against the Swiss in Lurgan on Tuesday in their final qualifier to show they can compete with the bigger nations they will inevitably come up against in the play-offs.