Victor Osimhen‘s fantastic goal saves the day for an impressive Galatasaray in the Europa League!
Turkish league champion Galatasaray were able to grabbed a point against 10-men AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
The Dutch club AZ Alkmaar took an early lead with a close-range finish by Sven Mijnans in the second minute, but the Istanbul team’s Victor Osimhen equalized with a header in the 43rd minute to a 1-1 draw at the AZ Stadion.
AZ Alkmaar were reduced to 10 men when Kees Smit was shown a second yellow card in the 90th minute.
Osimhen netted a stoppage-time goal, but it was disallowed due to an offside decision.
Galatasaray are third with 11 points, while AZ Alkmaar are ranked 15th with seven points.
Besiktas lose to Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1
In another match of the day, Maccabi Tel Aviv secured a 3-1 win over Besiktas at Debrecen’s Nagyerdei Stadion in Hungary.
Maccabi Tel Aviv opened the scoring through Gavriel Kanichowsky in the 23rd minute, but Besiktas equalized with Rafa Silva’s strike in the 38th minute.
The Tel Aviv club regained the lead just before halftime, with Dor Peretz scoring in first-half injury time, assisted by Weslley Patati.
Besiktas’ Cher Ndour found the back of the net in the 59th minute, but the goal was immediately ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
In the 71st minute, Maccabi goalkeeper Roi Mishpati made a crucial save, stopping Ciro Immobile’s penalty kick.
Weslley Patati scored with a close-range finish, extending the lead to 3-1 in the 81st minute.
Maccabi are 30th with three points and Besiktas are 18th with six points.
The match was played at the Nagyerdei Stadion instead of Besiktas’ home ground in Istanbul after Turkish authorities decided not to host the game in Türkiye.
It took place behind closed doors due to a ruling by local authorities.
