From a corner (18th minute), Victor Osihmen was picked out and sent an unstoppable header into the far corner. Kilian Belazzoug could do nothing about it; 1–0 to Galatasaray. In the immediate aftermath, Rennes pressed forward, with Nordin even hitting the post of Cakir’s goal. In the 28th minute, Mahdi Camara capitalised on a terrible clearance by the opposing goalkeeper to set up Estéban Lepaul. The centre-forward chipped the ball over the keeper to equalise.
Until half-time, Franck Haise’s men played with confidence. But after the break, an unfortunate handball by Kilian Belazzoug allowed Gabriel Sara to capitalise and score Istanbul’s second goal (48th minute). The home side’s joy was short-lived, however, as 10 minutes later, Estéban Lepaul – yet again – powered home a header, well set up by Mahamadou Nagida (58th minute). And as the saying goes: good things come in threes. From a penalty awarded in the 61st minute, the prolific striker sealed the deal with his hat-trick. It wasn’t until the 90th minute and stoppage time that Victor Osimhen won a penalty, which was converted by Baris Yilmaz.
Rennes’ line-up:
Kilian Belazzoug, Mahamadou Nagida (Quentin Merlin, 75'), Anthony Rouault (Gonçalo Oliveira, 86'), Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal (Lilian Brassier, 75'), Przemysław Frankowski (Bryan Reynolds, 75'), Adrien Thomasson, Sebastian Szymański (Seko Fofana, 63'), Mahdi Camara (c) (Henrick Do Marcolino, 86'), Arnaud Nordin (Issa Soumaré, 63'), Ludovic Blas (Mousa Al-Tamari, 63'), Estéban Lepaul (Eliezer Mayenda, 75th)
Manager: Franck Haise
The Istanbul side’s line-up:
Ugurcan Cakir, Roland Sallai, Eren Elmali, Kaan Ayhan, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Gabriel Sara, Leroy Sane, Yunus Akgun, Lesley Ugochukwu, Lucas Torreira, Victor Osimhen
Goals:
Victor Osimhen (2) and Baris Yilmaz for Galatasaray; Estéban Lepaul (3) for SRFC
The coach’s reaction:
« A good match with plenty to take away from it. Not everything was perfect, particularly the start of the second half. But overall, there’s still a lot to be pleased about with the starting line-up, as there were obviously plenty of changes afterwards and a few moments in the game that didn’t go our way.
In terms of energy, the quality of play over long spells, scoring three goals, falling behind and then regaining the lead… We’re all disappointed. And that’s the good thing. The coaching staff are disappointed and so are the players, which is actually a good sign. I like that.
In terms of pre-season, they started training a week before us and had their full squad back. It was a very good pre-season match with plenty of intensity. In the opening minutes, even though we were doing well with our pressing, we struggled a bit technically. Once we’d sorted that out, we regularly put them under pressure. It bodes well; it’s the sort of match that prepares us for what lies ahead.»
