Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen scored in each half of Galatasaray’s 2-1 win over Fenerbahçe in the Istanbul derby, a brace that took him to 49 Süper Lig goals and tenth on the club’s all-time league scoring list.
The derby was played on Monday 26 October. Osimhen’s first goal was a half-volley from inside the box and his second a header from an off-target shot, as reported by Afrik-Foot. Irfan Can Kahveci pulled one back for Fenerbahçe late on, and the result put Galatasaray top of the Turkish Super League, six points clear of their city rivals, according to Legit.ng.
It was his third goal against Fenerbahçe, a tally Afrik-Foot says is level with Wesley Sneijder’s as the highest by a foreign player for Galatasaray in the fixture. Soccernet looked at what the derby meant for him before kick-off in our Galatasaray vs Fenerbahçe preview.
Where 49 league goals ranks at Galatasaray
On a Transfermarkt-based ranking published by Afrik-Foot, Osimhen now sits tenth among Galatasaray’s league scorers with 49 goals in 59 Süper Lig games. Hakan Şükür leads with 288, followed by Tanju Çolak on 116 and Arif Erdem on 104. Mauro Icardi and Burak Yılmaz are both on 65, Gheorghe Hagi on 59 and Necati Ateş on 54.
Across all competitions Osimhen has 68 goals in 83 appearances for the club, but that ranking counts league goals only.
After the game he spoke about the talk around him in the build-up. In comments reported by Legit.ng, he said he is focused on the support of the fans rather than on social media chatter, and that he loves the club and will give everything for it.
Analysis: A scoring rate that makes the top ten look temporary
Forty-nine goals in 59 league games is a rate of roughly 0.83 a match. Necati Ateş is five goals ahead of him and Gheorghe Hagi ten. If he keeps scoring at anything close to that rate, both could be passed, though that depends on his fitness and on how long he stays in Istanbul.
Şükür’s 288 is a different matter and will not be threatened for years. The realistic target is the second place Çolak holds on 116, which is 67 goals away.
The derby also came with a Nigeria dimension. The Super Eagles face Tanzania in the next AFCON qualifiers in November, and a striker scoring in the biggest game of the Turkish season is what Eric Chelle will want to see. Soccernet’s look at the Super Eagles coach’s workload is in our piece on his double duty.
