Former Watford forward Troy Deeney has hailed Victor Osimhen’s performance after he helped Galatasaray overcome Juventus in their Champions League playoff clash.
The Turkish champions threw away a three-goal advantage which sent the match into extra-time, but were dragged back into the tie by the Nigerian striker, who scored their first goal in the 3-2 defeat on Wednesday night, before Baris Alper Yilmaz added a late second.
They progressed to the Round of 16 on a 7-5 aggregate scoreline, sending Juventus packing from the competition.
Galatasaray came into the second leg tie with a 5-2 advantage from the first leg, but it was Juventus who struck the first blow when Manuel Locatelli fired in from the spot-kick in the first half.
Despite being reduced to 10 men after Llyod Kelly’s sending off for a double caution, the Old Lady scored the next goal, doubling their tally in the second half through Federico Gatti.
Weston McKennie completed the comeback in the 82nd minute of the tie to give them a 3-0 win and send the game into extra-time.
Osimhen and Yilmaz them scored for Galatasaray in the second half to send his side into the next round.
Deeney applauds Osimhen’s contribution for Galatasaray
Now a pundit at CBS Sports, Deeney hailed the performance of player of the match award winner Osimhen, labelling him one of the best strikers in the world.
“What I love about him is if you talk about him just as a footballer, he’s one of the top five strikers in the world today”, Deeney said.
“Every league would want him; he’s physical, he’s strong and rough around the edges. Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t look the silkiest, he’s not the Harry Kane type of striker.
“When you watch him, technically, he’s very good. He’ll bash you about, he can link the play, run in behind, and he scores goals, which is the most important.
“A lot of why he hasn’t moved on has been financial, a value that he places on himself that he wants, and clubs aren’t prepared to meet that.
“I think when you start to look at him, the value is always going to be high, and if you look at him, only one or two players in Europe are better than him in every department”, Deeney concluded.
Galatasaray will now face either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the next round, with the draw set to hold later on Friday.
