As Cenk Tosun finished off a seven-on-four counter-attack in injury time, the Turkey bench were off their seats to celebrate a 2-1 victory that sealed their qualification for the knockout stages.

It was chaotic stuff, and yet that was only the start of it. In the madcap aftermath, Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs handed out five bookings, extending the record set 20 minutes earlier for the most cards awarded in a single game at a European Championship.Of the 18 cards shown, 16 were yellows and two were reds. Most curiously, five of the 18 were given to players who were not even on the field of play.

It was, by a distance, the dirtiest game in Euros history. The game started well for the Czech Republic, who were disturbing Turkey’s superior midfield technicians with a man-to-man pressing system.

Then came a setback: an 11th-minute yellow card for Antonin Barak. Kovacs correctly punished the Fiorentina midfielder for dragging down left-back Ferdi Kadioglu.That should have been the cue for Barak to play it safe for the rest of the game by avoiding risky tackles, but the 29-year-old was having none of it.

In the 20th minute, after taking a smart touch away from the challenge of Ismail Yuksek, Barak was quickly converged upon by two Turkey midfielders near the halfway line.

With the ball getting away from him and Hakan Calhanoglu closing fast, Barak stuck out his left foot in a desperate attempt to take it before Salih Ozcan.
Ozcan won the race and Barak stood on his foot, leaving him in a heap. After initially handing advantage to Turkey, Kovacs pulled play back for a foul and gave Barak his second yellow — the earliest sending-off in Euro’s history, beating the record held by former France defender Eric Abidal (24 minutes against Italy at Euro 2008).

The decision split pundits and commentators, with Andros Townsend on UK broadcaster ITV believing he had been harshly treated.

“This one was even more baffling. He’s in possession of the ball; he taps it away,” said Townsend. “It’s his follow-through that catches the Turkish player. You can always slow it down and freeze-frame it, but ultimately, he’s in possession of the ball.”

Either way, a player of Barak’s experience should know not to take risks in midfield in a must-win game having already been booked.