World Cup Qualifiers – Latvia 1-2 Turkey: Stefan Kuntz leads Crescent-Stars to first victory as manager

Galatasaray supporters celebrate after the football club was crowned champion of Turkey's top division for a record 22nd time on May 19, 2019 in Istanbul. - Galatasaray sealed their 22nd Turkish league title with a dramatic 2-1 win over nearest challengers Istanbul Basaksehir in a capital-city derby marred by violence. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo credit should read YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey came from behind to beat Latvia 2-1 in the World Cup qualification Group G clash in Riga, Latvia on Monday.

Stefan Kuntz won his first game as Turkey manager in his second game in charge since replacing Senol Gunes as head coach.

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It was also the first time the Crescent-Stars have beat Latvia in 97 years.

The last time Turkey beat Latvia was all the way back on 22 July 1924; a 3-1 victory in Riga.

The two sides have faced each other six times since then with five games ending in a draw and one in defeat for Turkey.

The Turkish side looked in control of the game for most the first half but lacked a killer instinct in front of goal and played at a low tempo.

It was Latvia who ended up opening the scoring in the second half.

Kuntz brought on Serdar Dursun for Orkun Kokcu on 65 minutes and he ended up equalising just 10 minutes later.

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A draw however, was not good enough for Turkey to keep their ambition of reaching the World Cup alive.

They needed another goal but time was running out.

Turkey put Latvia under a barrage of pressure in the last 20 minutes but failed to break the deadlock until Burak Yilmaz was awarded a penalty in the sixth minute of additional time.

Yilmaz converted from the penalty spot to score his 30th goal for the national team.

The victory saw Turkey remain in 3rd place, two points behind second placed Norway with two games remaining.