Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen scored a brace for Galatasaray to help them secure a 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League, Soccernet.ng reports.
After his heroics against Besiktas last week, Osimhen missed training for some days as part of precautionary measures to prevent an injury. Due to this, there were fears that he would miss Galatasaray’s Europa League against Tottenham at Rams Park on Thursday.
However, all those fears were put to rest after the Nigerian striker’s name was seen on the starting eleven before the game.
Galatasaray have been brilliant this season, and they showed that brilliance against Tottenham. The reigning Turkish champions started the game well as they were on the front foot from the blast of the whistle.
Osimhen and his strike partner Mauro Icardi looked quite lively, as they functioned well in the high press, trying to force mistakes from the Tottenham defenders.
The Turkish champions profited early from their setup, as Yunus Akgun reacted well to a rebound off a freekick and sent a wicked strike into the top right corner of Tottenham’s goal to make it 1-0.
Osimhen got his first big chance a few minutes later when he was played through on goal, but his shot from inside the box was saved from close range.
Due to their high press, Galatasaray left spaces for Tottenham to exploit. And in the 18th minute, Will Lankshear scored for Tottenham to level the scoring.
Nonetheless, Galatasaray were still the better side, as they looked like the hungrier of the two teams. Osimhen got another big chance in the 31st minute, as he was played through on goal by Dries Mertens. The Nigerian striker made no mistake this time, as he sent a low effort past Fraser Forster to make it 2-1 for the Lions.
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Just eight minutes later, Osimhen struck again. This time, he got on the end of a cross from Mertens on the right and struck a precise volley from close range to make it 3-1.
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Galatasaray took the lead into the break, but they started the second half on fire. Osimhen could have gotten his hattrick in the 56th minute after he struck a ball at goal. But Fraser pulled off a marvelous save to keep the score at 3-1.
Tottenham’s woes were compounded in the 60th minute after Lankshear got sent off for a second bookable offence. From there on, Galatasaray dominated the fixture, albeit Dominic Solanke scored in the 69th minute.
Osimhen got 80 minute of action before he was taken off in the 80th minute. And the game eventually ended 3-2 in favour of Galatasaray.
