Victor Osimhen: 2 records Galatasaray extended in LOSC Lille win

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen had an emotional welcome back to the Decathlon Arena as the home crowd celebrated him when he was subbed off in the 85th minute.

The 27-year-old scored in Galatasaray’s 4-2 Champions League win over LOSC Lille, the club where he made his major European breakthrough seven years ago, last night, as the Turkish champions finally got their league-phase campaign off the mark.

Yunus Akgun put the visitors ahead inside the opening two minutes, but Soriba Diaoune scored in the 7th and 39th minutes to turn the game around. Aleksey Batrakov headed in Roland Sallai’s cross in the 44th minute to make it 2-2 at the break.

An own goal in the 52nd minute, from Gabriel Sara’s corner, courtesy of a ricochet from Lucas Torreira, put Galatasaray 3-2 ahead.

Osimhen then finished a quick counter-attack in the 61st minute after exchanging passes with Baris Alper Yilmaz, before going off to applause from the home supporters.

The goal came against the club where he scored 18 goals in 38 appearances in 2019/20. Osimhen did not celebrate, raising his hands to the Lille fans instead, showing a love emoji.

Galatasaray arrived in France without a point after defeats to Sporting CP and Barcelona, but the result from yesterday moves them to three points from three games, giving them lift-off and placing them just inside the Group phase knock-out qualifiers position.

2 records Victor Osimhen’s Galatasaray extended against Lille

1. Galatasaray’s Champions League run turns

The win was only Galatasaray’s third in their last 10 Champions League games. The other two came against Juventus (5-2 in February) and Liverpool (1-0 in March). Between those results and Lille, they had lost three in a row, including 4-0 at Liverpool in the last 16.

It also ended a run of five consecutive Champions League away defeats and a six-match winless spell in France. Before kick-off, Galatasaray had won only two of their previous 11 meetings with French clubs.

2. Osimhen extends Galatasaray’s foreign-scorer record

Osimhen’s goal took him to 14 European goals for Galatasaray, according to Opta, the most by any foreign player in the club’s history. Milan Baros and Shabani Nonda each scored 12, Mario Jardel 11 and Gheorghe Hagi 10.

It was his first Champions League goal of the season and his seventh in all competitions. Our player rating from the match shows he was also the joint-most prolific shooter on the night, with four attempts.

What the two records say

Galatasaray’s results have been uneven without Osimhen’s goals, and his 14 European strikes are now the benchmark for any foreign forward at the club.

The test is whether this away win in France can be repeated when Stuttgart visit Istanbul on 3 November.

Galatasaray will still play against Aston Villa (H), AEK Athens (A), and Feyenoord (H) before rounding up their Group phase with a trip to the dreaded Parc des Princes to take on Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain.