Osayi-Samuel misses Mourinho’s first Fenerbahce defeat; Olatunji, Dessers hit Champions League goals

A few Nigerian footballers were in action on Tuesday, January 6 and Soccernet.ng presents the major talking points of the day.

UEFA Champions League

Jose Mourinho suffered his first competitive defeat as head coach of Fenerbahce as his team stumbled to a 2-1 loss at LOSC Lille in the first leg of the 3rd qualifying round playoffs.

Nigeria’s Bright Osayi-Samuel, Fenebahce’s first-choice right-back, watched the proceedings from the bench as Turkey’s Mert Müldür was preferred in the starting lineup.

Fenerbahce will have the chance to turn the tie around when the two teams meet in the return fixture next week at the Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi in İstanbul.

At the Arena Lublin in Poland, Cyriel Dessers scored a late equaliser as Glasgow Rangers battled to a 1-1 draw with Ukraine’s Dinamo Kyiv.

Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun also featured for Rangers in an encounter where former West Ham United star Andrii Yarmolenko handed Dinamo Kyiv a 37th-minute lead.

At the MCH Arena in Herning, Tosin Kehinde was on the pitch for 76 minutes while Fortune Bassey was an unused substitute as Ferencvaros were defeated 2-0 by FC Midtjylland.

Nearing an imminent move to Saudi Arabia, William Troost-Ekong sat on the bench throughout as Greek champions PAOK forced their hosts Malmö to a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Inside the epet ARENA in Prague, Victor Olatunji came off the bench to net a crucial equaliser for Sparta Prague in their 1-1 first-leg draw with FCSB.

Israel

Away from the Champions League, as action returns in the Israeli Toto Cup Ligat Al where Hapoel Hadera secured a fine 2-0 victory over Ashdod.

Lagos-born Adeniyi James doubled the advantage for Hadera in the 64th minute after Ilay Trost had given them a first-half lead.