Osimhen Fires Blanks as Russian Gives Gala Hope of Reaching Knockout Stage

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Victor Osimhen was in action for all 90 minutes yesterday  but failed to hit the back of the net as Galatasaray defeated visiting VfB Stuttgart 2-0 to boost  their hopes of reaching the UEFA Champions League knockout stage.

Instead of Osimhen, it was Galatasaray’s Russian forward, Aleksey Batrakov, who fired the two goals in the space of three first-half minutes, that gave the Turkish champions their second win in Europe this season. 

The defeat was the first for Stuttgart this season having won two and drew one in their three previous games in the Champions League.

Batrakov opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he fired home an effort after a Roland Sallai cross was cleared to him on the edge of the area.

The Russian soon made it two when he was expertly played through by a low pass from deep by former Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez, before slotting the ball through the legs of visiting keeper Fabian Bredlow.

It was a difficult start for Stuttgart. Jamie Leweling nearly opened the scoring for the German side, but his low finish struck the far post, rebounded on to the near post and bounced to safety.

They struggled to deal with the relentless Galatasaray pressure and relieved the hosts were wasteful in the final third or they would have extended their lead.

Stuttgart thought they had pulled one back when Chris Fuhrich bent an effort into the far corner from the edge of the area, but his goal was chalked off for an offside in the build-up against Deniz Undav, who had hit the bar.

The result gave Galatasaray back-to-back Champions League victories following their 4-2 win at Lille, moving them to six points after four matches, while Stuttgart remained on seven.

Okan Buruk’s men host Aston Villa in their next Champions League game on 24 November (17:45 GMT), while Stuttgart are away to Inter Milan on 25 November (20:00 GMT).

RESULTS 

Champions League

Galatasaray 2-0 Stuttgart 

Atletico 0-2 B’Munich 

Shakhtar 0-1 Sporting CP

Barcelona 3-0 Aston Villa

Bodo/Glimt 0-0 Lille

Feyenoord 0-3 Inter

LASK 4-0 Sl’Bratislava

Man Utd  3-2 AS Roma

Villarreal  0-6 PSG

TODAY

AEK Athens v R’Madrid 

Fenerbahce. Liverpool 

Dortmund v Betis 

FC Porto v Napoli 

Lens v Como

PSV v C’Brugge

RB Leipzig v Man City

Sl’Prague v Arsenal

Viking v Sabah FC

Europa League 

Rennes v Olympiacos

U17 World Cup

Japan v North Korea

Brazil v Nigeria