Greece slipped to a 2-1 defeat to neighbours Turkey on Thursday night in an international friendly clash at the New Antalya Stadium which represented their final warm-up match ahead of next month’s Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Two goals in the first 17 minutes of the first-half from Cengiz Under and Kenan Karaman had Angelos Anastasiadis’ experimental Greek team reeling in a powerful start from the home side - and those goals proved the difference on the night.

Dimitris Kourbelis netted a late consolation goal in added time to give Greece a scoreline they were not really deserving of as the margin of Senol Gunes’ Turkey side should have been larger.

Despite a poor first-half display from Greece which saw a makeshift defence struggle and the space between defence midfield and attack unbalanced, the visitors did have some other decent chances to score.

Andreas Samaris hit the post after 24 minutes, while Kostas Fortounis came close just before half-time with a powerful shot which flashed narrowly wide.

Overall, however, a weakened Greece flattered to deceive against their Turkish neighbours whose play was much more coherent and clinical.

Greece, who are second in Euro 2020 qualifying group J, next meet Italy and Armenia on June 8 and June 11 in two home qualifiers where they will hope to kick on and secure maximum points.

THE MATCH

Greece’s starting line-up was virtually unrecognisable from what would be considered their first-choice team as Anastasiadis opted to experiment with some of the fringe and younger players.

And this move backfired in the opening 20 minutes as Turkey took complete control and looked dangerous every time they came forward against a Greek rearguard featuring Charalampos Mavrias and Leonardo Koutris in the full-back positions, and Panathinaikos captain Dimitris Kourbelis and Aris’ Giorgos Valerianos in central defence.

The breakthrough for Turkey came in the 11th minute, when a neat passage of play culminated in Under working himself into some space and looking up before firing a measured shot past PAOK goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis.

If that goal damaged the Greek team’s confidence, then the next strike just six minutes later put them on the ropes.

A woeful mistake from Benfica midfielder Samaris who gave the ball away cheaply in the penalty area to Karaman, who did not hesitate to dish out the ultimate punishment, by firing a diagonal shot past the helpless Paschalakis.

Samaris almost made amends for his error in the 24th minute but his effort cannoned off the right post, and soon after it was Turkey’s turn to hit the woodwork when Okay Yokuşlu was thwarted by the crossbar.

Greece then rallied again just before half-time, but Fortounis fired wide from a great position when he should have done better.

Turkey began the second half in the same attacking way they had started the first, and they were almost rewarded with a third goal just four minutes after the restart. But Cenk Tosun failed to take advantage after being sent clean through on goal with Paschalakis pulling off an impressive save.

The pace and tempo of the game slowed considerably after that as both teams began to make the expected flurry of substitutions which disrupted the flow of the play, while a series of niggly fouls from both side crept into proceedings.

Greece’s best hopes of a goal looked like it may come from a set-piece, but despite getting free-kicks in dangerous positions, the visitors lacked quality with the delivery.

With eight minutes left, Greece had Paschalakis to thank again as the PAOK keeper pulled off a sprawling save to deny İrfan Kahveci after another slick passing move from the hosts.

Greece finally did have something to cheer about in added time when just moments before the final whistle blew, Kourbelis found himself in the right place to turn and fire a close-range shot home.

STARTING LINEUPS

Turkey: Uğurcan Çakır (GK), Çağlar, Ayhan, Sangare, Umut Meraş, Okay, Tufan, Yazici, Under, Karaman, Tosun

Greece: Paschalakis (GK), Mavrias, Kourbelis, Valerianos, Koutris, Samaris, Siopis, Pelkas, Masouras, Fortounis, Koulouris

HIGHLIGHTS: TURKEY - GREECE