Galatasaray Coach Reacts After Victor Osimhen’s Disallowed Goal in Loss to Kocaelispor
- Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk has reacted to his team's first loss of the Turkish Super League season
- The Turkish champions fell to their first defeat of the domestic season against newly promoted Kocaelispor
- Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen had a legitimate goal disallowed for offside in the latter stages
Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk has spoken after Victor Osimhen’s disallowed goal led to his side losing their first league match of the season.
Galatasaray, off a brilliant 3-0 win over Ajax in the Champions League thanks to Victor Osimhen’s hat-trick, lost their first league game of the season.
Source: Getty Images
English striker of Ghanaian descent Daniel Agyei’s goal in the additional minutes of the first half proved decisive for Kocaelispor to beat the Champions.
Victor Osimhen's equaliser for Galatasaray was disallowed controversially for offside despite video evidence suggesting the opponent’s leg kept him onside.
According to TRT Spor, it was Galatasaray’s first loss of the domestic season, having initially lost 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
The Lions will remain at the top of the Turkish Super League table heading into the international break, a point ahead of fiercest rivals Fenerbahce.
Okan Buruk reacts to Galatasaray's loss
Head coach Okan Buruk was honest in his assessment and admitted that the opponents started the match better than his team, which eventually proved costly.
“First, we have to accept that our opponent started the game with more enthusiasm than us,” he told GS TV.
“Of course, in an away match, our opponent showed that enthusiasm during the game, with their own fans present. We, however, couldn't display the same concentration, the same desire, and the same fight.”
The Turkish manager believes that the quality of his players did not show forth, as he expected a better level of offensive performance from the calibre of players.
“I think we didn't see our offensive productivity, which was one of our biggest issues from the last match, today. In fact, we should have created much more clear-cut chances for a team and group of players of our calibre,” he added.
The manager pointed out that fatigue from too many games recently contributed to the loss, and the international break will not give them the chance to bounce back immediately.
Source: Getty Images
“This was a bad match for both the coaching staff and the players. We’re upset in that sense. We’ve played six matches in a row lately; sometimes returning from European matches can be difficult,” he added.
“On the other hand, there are players leaving for the national team before the break, which makes concentration difficult.”
Victor Osimhen is one of Galatasaray’s players going on international duty and will face teammate Mario Lemina when Nigeria take on Gabon.
Rohr set goals target for Osimhen
Legit.ng reported that Gernot Rohr set a goals target for Victor Osimhen this season after the striker scored a hat-trick against his Benin side.
The former Super Eagles head coach believes that the player he gave his national team debut will score at least 30 goals for Galatasaray this season.
Source: Legit.ng
