Sercan gives Turkey a slender lead

Turkey will take a narrow lead into the second leg of their qualifying play-off against Belarus after Sercan Yildrim's early goal was enough to earn victory in Antalya.

On the rebound
Hami Mandıralı's team will travel to Borisov on 14 October with the cushion of Sercan's tenth-minute strike at the Mardan Sport Complex. The 18-year-old Bursaspor forward was in the right place to turn in the rebound after Özer Hurmacı's shot had been parried by Belarus keeper Pavel Chesnovski.

Woodwork intervenes
Turkey had opportunities to double their advantage during an increasingly dominant display against Yuri Kurnenin's men. However, Abdullah Durak's 30-metre strike came back off the crossbar after 26 minutes, before Eren Güngör was similarly denied by the woodwork with a second-half header from Özer Hurmacı's corner. Belarus issued occasional reminders of the threat they will carry in Tuesday's return match, with next summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden still within reach of either side.

Positive note
Coach Mandıralı was satisfied with the scoreline, if not by the performance. "I am happy we won but some of the players we had high hopes for, couldn't perform at the level we wanted," he said. "However, it was nice to win and 1-0 is a good result because we didn't concede an away goal. If this Turkey team can show their true selves in the second leg, then we can qualify for the finals."