Despite stealing the spotlight with a brace to lead Galatasaray to a thrilling 3-2 Europa League victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, Victor Osimhen’s coach, Okan Buruk, pointed to lack of fitness as the reason why the Super Eagles star didn’t add more goals to his tally.
Osimhen’s double propelled the Istanbul giants to the top of the 36-team standings with 10 points, firmly positioning them as strong contenders for the knockout rounds, Footballrover reports.
The Napoli loanee made a statement in Europa League last night, netting two goals in just nine minutes after Yunus Akgün had given them an early lead.
It was a clinical performance that ensured his team cruised past the Premier League side.
Although Osimhen was heavily involved throughout his 80 minutes on the field, his performance wasn’t without flaws.
He missed four clear scoring opportunities, despite having ten touches in Tottenham’s 18-yard box.
Battling with fitness, Osimhen still managed five shots on target from seven attempts, forcing Tottenham’s goalkeeper into several key saves.
Galatasaray coach blames fatigue for Osimhen’s missed opportunities
After the match, Buruk admitted that his side could have easily scored seven or eight goals in the second half, but several chances were squandered, particularly by Osimhen.
The coach explained that fatigue played a role in the missed opportunities and in the need for substitutions.
According to him, Osimhen, who had only trained for two days leading up to the match, requested to come off due to tiredness, much to the crowd’s surprise.
Buruk explained that since they have another game in three days, he had no other choice but to take him off.
Unfortunately for Galatasaray, the situation worsened when Mauro Icardi suffered an injury.
As new players came on and the team’s formation shifted, they struggled to maintain control in the closing stages.
Buruk lamented that a fourth goal could have sealed the win more comfortably.
The coach, while speaking to the club website, said,
“We could have scored 7-8 goals in the second half. We missed very clear positions. Then there was fatigue. We changed Mertens. He received a yellow card; we were afraid of him.”
“Then Osimhen wanted out. Of course, the audience also reacted here. Osimhen got tired and wanted to leave himself. He had trained for two days. We have another match in three days.”
“Mauro later suffered an injury. After the new entrants, the formation and the opponent were missing, and the last part of the game did not go as we wanted. We should have scored the fourth goal and finished the match.”
Be the first to comment on "Osimhen: Galatasaray coach unhappy with Super Eagles star’s fitness after missed goals"