Galatasaray Twice Come From Behind to Beat Lille 4-2 in Champions League
Galatasaray came from behind twice to beat Lille 4-2 at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Wednesday, October 21, in matchday 3 of the Champions League. Victor Osimhen scored the fourth goal, and the Turkish champions picked up their first points of the league phase after losing their first two games.
Galatasaray started the evening quickly. Yunus Akgün fired them ahead in the second minute, but Lille responded in five minutes. In the seventh minute, midfielder Soriba Diaoune brought Lille back on level terms with a left-footed finish from the left side of the box. Both teams were looking for their first points of the campaign, and the pace was frantic from the beginning.
The match had a key moment in the 27th minute. Osimhen went down in the Lille penalty area and Galatasaray appealed for a penalty, but VAR ruled that there was no foul. Lille then built up the pressure and went ahead in the 39th minute. Diaoune scored for the second time, firing a right-footed shot into the top corner after Hákon Arnar Haraldsson created the chance for him.
Galatasaray answered before the interval. In the 44th minute, Aleksey Batrakov headed in to make it 2-2. Batrakov had also scored in Galatasaray's earlier match against Barcelona, in a 4-1 defeat in Istanbul on October 13.
The visitors took the lead for the first time after the break. In the 52nd minute, a corner led to a goal for Galatasaray, which was ultimately recorded as an own goal. Sources differ on exactly who touched the ball in, although Lucas Torreira had appeared to glance it into the net. Osimhen then added the fourth in the 61st minute. Barış Alper Yılmaz played the ball to the striker on the counter-attack and he finished low and hard past goalkeeper Berke Özer.
Lille had more of the possession and more shots, but Galatasaray goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır made important saves. Lille were without Tiago Santos, while Galatasaray were missing Rafael Leão. For Lille, it is another disappointing night in the competition. They had lost 3-2 at home to Real Betis earlier in the league phase.