Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk has revealed that his decision to replace Victor Osimhen in the second half of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Liverpool was not due to injury.
The Nigerian striker made his first start since suffering an injuring while on international duties with his country early last month and was substituted in the second half of the encounter.
Galatasaray had lost 5-1 in their UCL opener without their talisman and needed a result against the Premier League champions to kickstart their campaign.
The game started with both sides trading chances and the visitors almost took the lead, but were denied by a goal line clearance after Ismail Jakobs stopped an effort from Cody Gakpo.
However, just twenty three seconds later, Baris Yilmaz was fouled by Liverpool stand-in right back Dominik Szoboszlai, resulting in a penalty kick for the hosts.
Osimhen stepped up and converted from 12 yards emphatically to put his side ahead in the game.
The 2023 African footballer of the year award was then substituted later in the second half, coming off for Mauro Icardi.
Both sides traded further chances to add to the scoreline, but were wasteful in front of goal.
The visitors had a late penalty overturned by the Video Assistant Referee, as the match ended 1-0 in their favor.
Buruk explains decision to take off Osimhen
Victor Osimhen has been of great importance to the Galatasaray team since joining on an initial loan deal last summer.
It was then expected that in a game of such high stakes, the Nigerian forward would have played the entire 90 minutes, especially having caused several troubles for the Liverpool defense.
Speaking after the match, Okan Buruk explained the decision to take off the Super Eagles star.
“Osimhen was feeling tired and had a cramp in his foot, but we don’t think it’s anything serious.”, the Galatasaray boss revealed.
“There’s no negative information coming in at this time”, he added.
