By Dayo Awoniyi
Victor Osimhen’s 20th goal of the season was not enough to prevent Galatasaray’s elimination from the UEFA Europa League as they were held to a dramatic 2-2 draw at home by AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
The Turkish giants, trailing 1-4 from the first leg, fought valiantly but couldn’t overcome the deficit, ultimately succumbing to a 3-6 aggregate defeat.
Osimhen opened the scoring for Galatasaray in the 45th minute, giving them a glimmer of hope.
However, AZ Alkmaar mounted a late comeback, with Vangelis Pavlidis scoring in the 84th minute and Zakaria Aboukhlal adding another in the 89th minute to put the Dutch side in control.
Galatasaray managed to equalize in the 90th minute through Kerem Aktürkoglu’s strike, but it was too little, too late.
Despite the disappointment, Osimhen’s form remains a bright spot for the Turkish side.
In 25 appearances this season, the Nigerian striker has netted 20 goals and provided 5 assists, solidifying his reputation as one of the top forwards in European football.
Unfortunately, his goal-scoring heroics couldn’t keep Galatasaray’s European hopes alive this season.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
