Germany defeat harms Turkey's case

Goals from Mario Gomez and Thomas Müller followed by a Bastian Scheinwsteiger penalty maintained Germany's flawless record in UEFA EURO 2012 Group A, with Hakan Balta on target for Turkey.

Turkey might have sealed second place in the section and a play-off place in Istanbul, but were chasing the game after Gomez put the visitors ahead on the break. Müller's strike did not kill off the home side's resistance, with Hakan Balta's goal 11 minutes from the end restoring some hope, but the writing was on the wall when Schweinsteiger finished from the spot.

Turkey looked to go for the throat from the off, with Hamit Altıntop, Arda Turan and Selçuk Inan eager to provide the ammunition for in-form striker Burak Yılmaz. Selçuk set up Altıntop for a fifth-minute chance but Manuel Neuer swatted it wide. Hiddink's men were eager to make it a physical encounter but Germany's passing proved to be irresistible.

After Selçuk failed to make the most of a chance, the ball moved at lightning speed upfield and the hitherto invisible Gomez finished to make it 1-0 on 35 minutes.

Germany were to see more of the ball after the break, with Turkey forced to play increasingly on the counterattack. Burak looked to profit from one such break on 58 minutes but could not outpace Jérôme Boateng. Gomez and Müller had further opportunities, however, and the latter made it 2-0 with a shot from just outside the box as Neuer's long clearance caused chaos in the Turkey defence.

The 50,000-strong crowd were revived after Hakan Balta converted Gökhan Gönül's cross, and the closing minutes looked set to be tough for Germany, but Gökhan's foul on Müller then set up Schweinsteiger to kill the game off when he converted from the spot. Turkey now trail second-ranked Belgium by a point going into their final game against Azerbaijan on Tuesday.