Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk has expressed his frustration over the absence of Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen in the club’s recent UEFA Europa League match against Rigas FS.
Despite taking an early two-goal lead, Galatasaray ended up drawing 2-2 with the Latvian side in the absence of their key striker.
Osimhen, 25, missed the match due to a muscle injury he suffered in a Turkish league game against Kasımpaşa last weekend. The Nigerian striker had scored two goals before being substituted in that game, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
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Osimhen, who is currently on loan at Galatasaray from Italian club Napoli, had already contributed two goals and four assists in four appearances this season before his injury.
Following Galatasaray’s disappointing 2-2 draw with Rigas FS, coach Buruk stressed the importance of having Osimhen available in such critical matches.
“Of course, we had shortcomings here. Victor Osimhen wasn’t there because of his injury,” Buruk said. “With him, we could have found more solutions in this game.”
Buruk also noted that while striker Mauro Icardi performed well and played more freely, he had expected more from the players who came on later in the match. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t achieve that. We needed to produce more,” he added.
