By Victor Kanayo
A day after his compatriot scored for Atalanta FC in the UEFA Champions League, Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen netted a brace in the space of eight minutes to lead Galatasaray to a convincing 3-2 victory over ten-man Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.
Galatasaray manager, Okan Buruk, started the match with a formidable attacking duo of Osimhen and Mauro Icardi.
However, it was left-back Yunus Akgun who opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a well-struck shot from outside the box.
Tottenham responded in the 18th minute through teenager William Lankshear, who became Tottenham’s youngest goalscorer in major European competition since Harry Kane (18y 140d) who netted against Shamrock Rovers in the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League.
Osimhen took center stage in the 31st minute, converting a precise pass from Dries Mertens.
Just eight minutes later, he doubled his tally with a controlled volley that left Tottenham goalkeeper Fraser Foster helpless.
Osimhen was taken off in the 80th minute and replaced by midfielder Kerem Demirbay.
The win means Galatasaray are still unbeaten in the competition this season.
Chelsea Rout
Chelsea recorded the biggest Europa Conference League victory as they crushed Armenian side FC Noah.
The Blues, playing a completely different team to their last Premier League game, led 6-0 at the break – and added two more in the second half.
Chelsea were huge favourites to win this game, ranked ninth in UEFA’s European club rankings, compared with Noah at 311th.
And they recorded the joint-second biggest victory in their history, only behind a 13-0 Cup Winners’ Cup victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in 1971.
