CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

*The Nigerian star now the leading scorer ahead of Haaland, Kane, Mbappe 

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Victor Osimhen ascended the summit of top goals scorers in the UEFA Champions League last night after he fired all three goals as his Galatasaray handed out a 3-0 defeat to Ajax inside their Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.

Osimhen’s three goals make him the leading goals scorer this season in the competition with six goals from three Champions League matches.  Galatasaray on the other hand are now ninth on the league phase table with nine points from four matches, just outside the top-8 on goals difference!

After a barren first half, Osimhen in the 59th minute put Galatasaray ahead when he cleverly got in between Josip Sutalo and Remko Pasveer to head in a cross from Leroy Sane for the lead.

 Things went from bad to worse for Ajax, who conceded a penalty when Youri Baas handled another Galatasaray cross. 

Osimhen stepped up and confidently buried the spot kick in the left corner in the 66th minute.

The gangling Nigerian international returned to complete his hat trick when he again fired from the penalty spot after Champions League debutant, Gerald Alders, gave away a second penalty of the evening. 

The Nigerian hitman went the other way, leaving Pasveer and Ajax hopeless after 78 minutes.

Osimhen is a goal ahead of an elite trio of Earling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. The 26-year-old striker has now netted 12 goals in his last eight games in Europe.

Galatasaray came eerily close to adding a fourth in the dying seconds when Mauro Icardi, who’d replaced Osimhen, hit the post with a cross-body shot.

The victory was a perfect revenge for Galatasaray who were beaten by Ajax last year in the UEFA Europa League at the same venue.

For Ajax Coach, John Heitinga, these are not good moments at all. His team is languishing at the bottom of the 36-team league with zero point from four matches in this year’s UEFA Champions League, losing to Inter (2-0), Olympique Marseille (4-0), and Chelsea (5-1) in the opening three games. 

Ajax will next host fellow bottom feeders Benfica next, while Galatasaray will host Union Saint-Gilloise on November 25th

Elsewhere, another Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman scored a goal that was disallowed for offside as Atalanta defeated Marseille 1-0 in the French City.

Another Nigerian international, Raphael Onyedika had a decent showing as his Belgium side, Club Brugge held  visiting Barcelona 3-3 in another Champions League game played last night.

RESULTS 

Pafos 1-0 Villarreal 

Qarabag 2-2 Chelsea

Ajax 0-3 Galatasaray 

Benfica 0-1 Leverkusen 

Brugge 3-3 Barcelona 

Inter 2-1 Kairat Almaty

Man City 4-1 Dortmund 

Marseille 0-1 Atalanta 

Newcastle 2-0 Bilbao 

TODAY

(Europa League)

Basel v FCSB

Crvena. v Lille

D’Zagreb v C’Vigo

Malmo v Pana’cos

Midtjylland v Celtic

Nice v Freiburg 

Salzburg v GA Eagles 

Sturm Graz v Nottingham 

Utrecht v Porto

Aston Villa v Maccabi 

Betis v Lyon

Bologna v Genk

Ferencvaros v Ludogorets 

PAOK v Y’Boys

Plzen v Fenerbahce

Rangers v Roma 

Stuttgart v Feyenoord