Böde gives Hungary vital point in Turkey

Burak Yılmaz and Dániel Böde swapped second-half goals as Turkey and Hungary shared the spoils in Istanbul.

The result is a blow to Turkey's FIFA World Cup qualification chances, but the point was a welcome one for Hungary who are second in Group D, trailing only runaway leaders the Netherlands. It looked like Burak had given the hosts' campaign a shot in the arm when he headed in Arda Turan's precise cross just past the hour mark, but substitute Böde responded soon after to haul Hungary level.

If Turkey were the better side in the early stages, it was Hungary who threatened first as Onur Kıvrak superbly denied Vilmos Vanczák twice in a few seconds, first from a header and then from a follow-up shot from a tight angle which he deflected onto the crossbar. Abdullah Avcı's team took heart from their goalkeeper's heroics and began to take a stranglehold on the first half with Burak going close on several occasions.

Hungary spurned the first opportunity of the second half, too, as Tamás Hajnal fired wide from Balázs Dzsudzsák's cross and Sándor Egervári's side were made to pay when Burak nodded in after 63 minutes. However, Hungary finally found their shooting boots as Semih Kaya miscontrolled a long throw-in and Böde rifled high into the net. Turkey applied late pressure yet to no avail and, with seven points from six games, their task looks very hard now.