Galatasaray Coach Reacts After Victor Osimhen’s Goal Against Besiktas
- Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk has spoken about the Istanbul derby victory over Besiktas at Tupras Stadium
- Victor Osimhen scored the only goal in the 39th-minute to give Galatasaray a crucial victory over their rivals
- Buruk’s main focus was about Leroy Sane's red card which made his team play nearly 40 minutes with 10 players
Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk has spoken after his team laboured to a 1-0 win over Besiktas in the Istanbul derby at the Tupras Stadium on March 7, 2026.
Victor Osimhen scored the winner in the 39th-minute and Galatasaray held on to the goal to secure a crucial victory to extend their lead at the top of the table.
Source: Getty Images
According to TRT Futbol, Leroy Sane was sent off in the 62nd minute after the video assistant referee judged his foul on Rilwan Yilmaz to be violent.
Galatasaray played the remainder of the match with 10 men, including an additional 10 minutes in the second half, but held on and secured the victory.
The win extended their lead at the top of the table over fiercest rival Fenerbahce to seven points with the Yellow and Blue having a game at hand.
Okan Buruk reacts to Galatasaray's win
Galatasaray boss Buruk admits that not taking chances nearly cost his team and that the result would have been different if his team converted their chances.
“We defended well; however, I think we still had three or four chances to score. We even had these opportunities when we were down to ten men. If we had made better use of our final passes, the result could have been different,” he told GS TV.
He questioned the officiating in the match, claiming there were many decisive situations which the referee did not call correctly during the match.
“We were down to ten men in the second half, but we still put up a good fight. Even if we had been down to ten men in the first half, we would have still fought and done everything we could to win the match,” he added.
Source: Getty Images
“However, there were many decisions during the game that made both teams unhappy. I think the fourth official was also having a bad day; frankly, I can't say the refereeing team as a whole had a good day. Therefore, neither Galatasaray nor Beşiktaş were satisfied with the refereeing.”
Next for Galatasaray is the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match against Liverpool and Buruk believes the win over Besiktas will help his team mentally.
“The next match will be against Liverpool; that's a completely different story. We'll see yet another story after returning from the Liverpool away game,” he said.
“The most important thing today was to win, and we achieved that. This victory is not only about three points, but it also strengthens us mentally.”
Osimhen sends message to Liverpool
Legit.ng reported that Victor Osimhen sent a message to Liverpool after scoring the only goal to help Galatasaray defeat Besiktas in the Istanbul derby.
The Super Eagles forward admits that the win over Besiktas will boost their confidence and he is assured that they will get a good result against Liverpool.
Source: Legit.ng
