Galatasaray 3-2 Tottenham: Victor Osimhen nets twice to inflict first Europa League defeat on 10-player Spurs
Victor Osimhen netted two goals, handing a loss to Tottenham, who played with 10 men, and sealing a 3-2 win for Galatasaray despite their missed opportunities.
The Spurs allowed 28 shots on their goal while managing to take only five of their own. However, they were able to leave Istanbul with a decent score, even after Will Lankshear received a red card in the second half.
Galatasaray took an early advantage just six minutes into the match with a spectacular volley from Yunus Akgun, who found the top-right corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area. However, Tottenham quickly leveled the score thanks to their 19-year-old forward Lankshear, who netted his first goal for the team by tapping in a cross from Brennan Johnson.
Home Team Ratings: Forster (5), Porro (6), Dragusin (4), Davies (5), Gray (6), Bergvall (5), Bissouma (5), Maddison (5), Johnson (5), Lankshear (5), Son (5).
Substitutes: Kulusevski (7), Bentancur (7), Solanke (7), Sarr (6)
The visitors struggled defensively the entire match, with Osimhen prompting a solid save from Forster. He had a goal disallowed for offside but soon regained the lead with a smart toe-poke after Radu Dragusin lost possession of the ball.
Forster made another crucial save against Osimhen, but just a minute later, the striker scored his second goal of the first half with a smooth volley from a perfectly placed cross by Dries Mertens.
Ange Postecoglou substituted Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur for Brennan Johnson and Heung-Min Son at the start of the second half, but Tottenham struggled even more. Abdulkerim Bardakci had a shot on goal blocked after Forster mishandled an easy catch, while Akgun's volley was narrowly deflected off target. Additionally, Osimhen squandered two scoring opportunities.
Lankshear received his second yellow card just seven minutes after the first for a reckless challenge in the middle of the field, and shortly after, Forster managed to make two more crucial saves.
Solanke made a smart play by redirecting Pedro Porro's low cross into the net, surprising everyone and bringing Spurs to within a goal. Late in the game, Kulusevski had a chance to level the score, but his long-range shot drifted past the post as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera was far from his line.
Postecoglou: Defeat Was Our Own Doing; Lankshear Will Learn
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Tottenham's head coach, Ange Postecoglou, mentioned:
"I truly believe we brought this on ourselves. There were straightforward ways to maintain possession, and it wasn't overly complicated. Even with only ten players, we demonstrated that. We simply needed to be more resilient with the ball and stick to the style of football we play consistently."
It could have been a combination of the adjustments I made and the overall vibe of the situation, but what really stands out to me were the times we lost possession. We were able to move the ball effectively against them when we were down to 10 players, but once we were back to 11, we lacked that same confidence, which was frustrating.
Regarding Will Lankshear: "Will did a great job scoring, and he put in a lot of effort for the team. Since he hasn't had much experience in senior football, today was an excellent opportunity for him to learn. The red card was a result of him being a bit too eager in that moment, but it’s all part of his growth."
Osimhen Thrives Against English Teams
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