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Galatasaray assistant coach İrfan Saraloğlu has reacted to Victor Osimhen’s return from injury, stating the recuperating goal poacher needed to be protected as the Nigerian striker helped the club secure a 3-1 victory over Kasimpasa on Friday night.
The Nigerian international, who sustained the injury during Galatasaray’s 3-2 win over Istanbul Başakşehir in September, was introduced in the second half of the encounter.
The former Napoli striker replaced Deniz Gul in the final 13 minutes of the contest as the Yellow-Reds pushed to secure the victory at Rams Park.
Osimhen, who posed a constant threat following his introduction, provided an assist for the final goal scored by Gabonese midfielder Mario Lemina in the closing minutes of the match.
Speaking after the game, Saraloğlu revealed that Galatasaray reduced their intensity following the sending off of Lucas Torreira five minutes past the hour mark.
“Our game in the second half, after the card, we retreated a bit, our balance was disrupted, but I can say that Sanchez was out of the game when the goal came. They scored from that gap,” he was quoted as saying by Galatasaray’s official website.
The Galatasaray assistant coach further explained the reason behind Osimhen’s introduction in the closing minutes of the encounter, stressing that the club made the decision to prevent a relapse of his injury.
“Osimhen just came back from injury, we had to protect him. We had to protect the players returning from national team duty,” he concluded.
Osimhen will be delighted to make his return from injury and would be keen to continue his brilliant start to the 2026/2027 campaign.
Before sustaining the injury, the Nigerian attacker has netted six goals and provided two assists in the four matches against Corum FK, Erzurumspor FK, Göztepe, and Istanbul Basaksehir.
