Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen grabbed a brace in Galatasaray’s comfortable 3-1 win over Bodo/Glimt in their UEFA Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Osimhen, who started on the bench in the last domestic game for Okan Buruk’s men at the weekend, returned to the starting line-up for this important encounter against the Norwegian side, and went on to deliver the goods with two goals in the game.
An already vociferous home crowd at RamsPark was given reason to erupt just three minutes into proceedings, when Mario Lemina slid the ball through for Osimhen to beat Nikita Haikin with a clinical finish.
Just four minutes in, the striker opened the scoring for the Turkish giants from the edge of the box after Mario Lemina played him through on goal.
Three minutes after the half-hour mark, Osimhen pounced on a poor back pass, rounded off the goalkeeper to double the lead for the home side.
The goalkeeper was left completely helpless in the 33rd minute, though, as Osimhen accepted the gift of a lax Fredrik André Bjørkan backpass by rounding Haikin and sliding the ball into the empty net.
Osimhen could have completed a first-half hat-trick when he ran onto a pass from Leroy Sane, but the striker’s effort went off the mark as the visitors escaped once again. The hosts were comfortable at the interval.
After the break, Gala increased their lead through Yunus Akgun at the hour mark. However, three minutes after Osimhen’s withdrawal for Mauro Icardi, Andreas Helmersen headed home a splendid cross to grab a goal back for the visitors. In the end, the Turkish giants held on for another home in Europe.
The visitors continued to struggle against the intensity of Osimhen and their surroundings, with the striker getting his head on two Leroy Sané crosses but being denied by Haikin.
Bodo/Glimt eventually started to make forays forward of their own and had periods of possession that were met by whistles from the stands, although they still couldn’t test Uğurcan Cakır.
Osimhen offered a reminder of his threat as he pounced when Odin Bjortuft failed to convincingly deal with Ismail Jakobs’ cross, even if Haikin was equally alert to stop his attempt.
It is the second successive UCL win for Galatasaray after beating Liverpool on match day two. Osimhen and the rest of the group will face Ajax in their next UCL outing.
