ISTANBUL: Mario Lemina's early diving header handed Galatasaray a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday, leaving the tie finely balanced after a compelling contest in which both sides saw goals disallowed.
The Turkish champions struck after seven minutes when Lemina nodded home after Victor Osimhen headed a corner back across goal, giving them a precious advantage ahead of the second leg at Anfield.
"I am grateful to my teammates and all our fans. We wanted to win by fighting hard, just like in the first match (in the league phase). And we did," Lemina, who earned the Player of the Match award, said.
The result mirrored September's league phase encounter between the sides, when Galatasaray also won 1-0 thanks to an Osimhen penalty.
"It's bad deja vu, you could say. The score is the same as the match three months ago. But we played a game where we could have scored much more," Liverpool manager Arne Slot said after taking charge of the club for the 100th time.
GOALS DISALLOWED
Both teams thought they had scored late on, only to be denied by the officials.
Just after the hour mark, Osimhen tapped the ball into an open net, but Liverpool were spared as Baris Alper Yilmaz had strayed offside in the build-up.
Liverpool found the net in the 70th minute, forcing the ball over the line after a goalmouth scramble, with the effort ruled out following a VAR review as the ball had seemingly struck Ibrahima Konate's hand before ricocheting into the net.
The visitors began brightly with a number of half chances, yet after taking the lead, Galatasaraypushed forward with Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili producing several superb saves. As the clock ticked down in the second half, the visitors again began to create opportunities, forcing Galatasaray onto the defensive, with keeper Ugurcan Cakir producing a superb save to deny Hugo Ekitike's chipped effort. "We created a lot of chances, but we also missed a lot. I think we came very close to scoring in the first half. It's very important to take advantage of these opportunities and convert them into goals," Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said.
The Dutchman, however, remained optimistic about the return leg next Wednesday.
"The second leg will be at our home. And that's definitely an advantage for us," he said. "Everything is in our hands when we're at home. We'll be playing there to advance to the next round."
Galatasaray had reached the last 16 after beating Juventus 7-5 on aggregate in the playoffs, while Liverpool qualified directly after finishing third in the league phase.
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