Victor Osimhen scored against his former club as Galatasaray won a six-goal thriller 4-2 at Lille on Wednesday to claim their first Champions League points of the season. Soriba Diaoune's first-half brace had twice put Lille ahead, but Aleksey Batrakov, a Nabil Bentaleb own goal and Osimhen's 61st-minute strike turned the game and left the hosts pointless after three matches.
A breathless first half in Lille
Both sides arrived at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on zero points — Lille beaten by Real Betis and Arsenal, Galatasaray beaten by Sporting CP and Barcelona — and it showed in the best possible way: neither team was willing to settle for caution. The fans were still finding their seats when Galatasaray countered ruthlessly inside two minutes, Yunus Akgün finishing inside the box for 1-0, as Flashscore's Champions League live coverage recorded.
Lille's response was instant, and it came from a teenager. On seven minutes Soriba Diaoune rounded the goalkeeper and passed the ball into an empty net to level at 1-1. The Guinean forward was not finished: after Osimhen had seen a penalty award for Galatasaray cancelled following a VAR check, Diaoune struck again on 39 minutes, finishing from Hákon Haraldsson's assist to put Davide Ancelotti's side 2-1 in front.
The lead lasted five minutes. Just before half-time Roland Sallai crossed and Batrakov headed Galatasaray level at 2-2 — the Russian's second telling contribution in this competition — and a wild first half ended all square, with Lille's defeat at Arsenal last week already feeling like a distant memory.
Bentaleb's own goal and Osimhen settle it
The second half turned on seven cruel minutes for the hosts. On 52 minutes Bentaleb diverted the ball into his own net to give Galatasaray the lead for the second time, and Lille, who had defended their advantage so briefly twice in the first half, never recovered their composure. Ancelotti turned to his bench, sending on Olivier Giroud among a triple change just after the hour, but the decisive moment had already arrived.
On 61 minutes Barış Alper Yılmaz set up Osimhen and the Nigeria striker — returning to the club where he scored 18 goals in 2019-20 — finished for 4-2. It was the goal this fixture had been building towards since the draw was made, and the story Beyond The Final Whistle told in this week's Off The Pitch on Osimhen's journey from Olusosun to Galatasaray captain wrote its next chapter in Lille. Osimhen worked until the 84th minute, when Deniz Gül replaced him, and there were no red cards as Galatasaray saw out a famous away win, as NBC Sports' live updates confirmed at full-time.
So what: Galatasaray off the mark, Lille in deep trouble
Galatasaray's first three points lift Okan Buruk's side off the bottom of the league-phase table and into the conversation for the top 24 and a knockout-round play-off place, with five matches still to play. Just as importantly, they have finally won away in Europe after a run of poor results on the road, and they face Fenerbahçe in a huge Istanbul derby in the Süper Lig on Monday with momentum suddenly behind them.
For Lille the picture is bleak: zero points from three matches, 10 goals conceded, and a defence that has now shipped three or more in every league-phase game. Ancelotti's side travel to Monaco in Ligue 1 on Sunday, and when Europe returns on Matchday 4 in early November they will likely need to win to keep even their play-off hopes alive. Diaoune's emergence is a genuine bright spot — but bright spots do not earn points.
Beyond the Final Whistle: two winless, desperate teams produced the game of the early window, and the difference was star quality at the decisive moments. Diaoune announced himself with a fearless brace, but Galatasaray had Batrakov's timing, Lille's own-goal misfortune and, above all, Osimhen — a striker who came back to his old home and did exactly what elite strikers do. Galatasaray's campaign is alive; Lille's is on life support. Was this the night Osimhen's European season truly began? Let us know in the comments.
