Impressive Iceland too strong for ten-man Turkey

• Iceland begin Group A with impressive home win against ten-man Turkey
• Jón Dadi Bödvarsson heads Iceland into an 18th-minute lead
• Turkey defender Ömer Toprak sent off for second bookable offence early in the second half
• Gylfi Sigurdsson (76) and Kolbeinn Sigthórsson (77) seal the victory in the closing stages
• Next matches: Latvia v Iceland, Turkey v Czech Republic (10 October)

Iceland began their UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying campaign with a win thanks to a ruthless display against ten-man Turkey in Reykjavik.

Beaten by Croatia in the play-offs for the FIFA World Cup, the home side were in determined mood from the outset and began aggressively, harrying their opponents relentlessly and pressing every ball. Turkey looked happier to sit back and wait for openings, although that approach almost backfired in the 14th minute when Ari Skúlason's pass picked out Bödvarsson, but his header struck the crossbar on its way over.

Four minutes later the Iceland midfielder again struck the woodwork, but this time the outcome was a happier one – for the home fans at least. Sigurdsson's corner caught out goalkeeper Onur Kıvrak, who could only help on the ball for Bödvarsson to nod against the bar and into the corner of the net.

Turkey began to push forward more after the break, but their plans were undermined in the 59th minute when Ömer collected his second yellow card of the evening. The visitors nevertheless continued to look for an equaliser, but the numerical disadvantage left them increasingly vulnerable on the break and in the 76th minute Iceland doubled their lead, Onur unable to keep out Sigurdsson's curling effort.

Sixty seconds later the points were Iceland's, Skúlason delivering an accurate pass over the top of the Turkish defence and Sigthórsson keeping his head to round off an impressive night's work for the home team.