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Turkey's Galatasaray achieved its first victory in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League football competition, after defeating its host France's Lille 4-2 on Wednesday at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium, as part of the tournament's third round.
The two teams entered the match with a "win at all costs" slogan after losing their matches in the first two rounds, but the Turkish team managed to settle the match in its favor to claim its first 3 points, while Lille remained without points.
Galatasaray surprised its host with an early goal in the second minute when Barış Alper Yılmaz surged from the left flank and sent a cross into the penalty area, which Brazilian Alexsandro Ribeiro tried to clear with a header, only for it to reach Yunus Akgün, who shot it with his left foot into the net.
However, the French team equalized 6 minutes later through Guinea's Souriba Diaoï, who capitalized on a through ball from Alexsandro Ribeiro to go one-on-one with Uğurcan Çakır, Galatasaray's goalkeeper, and dribbled past him before slotting the ball into the net.
As time passed, the hosts imposed their control over the flow of the game, and Diaoï came close to giving his team the lead in the 24th minute after rising to a cross and heading it toward the goal, but Çakır brilliantly saved it and turned it into a corner kick.
The referee awarded a penalty kick to Galatasaray in the 26th minute after Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen was fouled by Lille's Turkish goalkeeper Berke Özer, before overturning his decision following a VAR (Video Assistant Referee) review.
Lille succeeded in translating its dominance into a second goal in the 40th minute following a well-organized attack started by Delaney Baku with a surge from the right flank, before penetrating the penalty area and firing a powerful shot saved by Çakır, which rebounded to Iceland's Hákon Haraldsson, who passed it to Diaoï for the latter to forcefully shoot it into the net.
Yet, the French team's joy lasted only 4 minutes as Galatasaray equalized in the 44th minute through Russia's Alexey Batrakov, who headed in a precise cross from Hungary's Roland Sallai, ending the first half in a 2-2 draw.
In the second half, the Turkish team regained its lead in the 52nd minute after Uruguay's Lucas Torreira rose to a corner kick cross executed by Brazil's Gabriel Sara, heading it into the goal to deceive the goalkeeper and nestle in the net.
Osimhen cemented Galatasaray's lead with the fourth goal in the 61st minute following a quick counter-attack during which he exchanged the ball with Barış Alper Yılmaz, before receiving the latter's pass on the edge of the penalty area and firing a powerful right-footed shot that settled in the net, confirming his team's away victory.
In another match, Italy's Como, led by its Spanish coach Cesc Fàbregas, achieved a sweeping 4-1 victory over its visiting English side Manchester United in the match held at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium.
Como's goals were shared by Argentina's Nico Paz, who scored twice, Greece's Anastasios Douvikas, and Spain's Jacobo Ramón, in the 2nd, 57th, 49th, and 76th minutes, while the Netherlands' Joshua Zirkzee scored United's only goal in the 90+1st minute.
With this victory, Como raised its tally to 6 points to temporarily climb to sixth place, while Manchester United, led by coach Michael Carrick, remained at 3 points after suffering its second consecutive defeat, dropping to twentieth place temporarily.
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