After pocketing Osimhen in UEL, Elfsborg's Nigeria U23 CB labels Galatasaray ace 'Nigeria's biggest' star

Turkish champions Galatasaray were made to sweat for victory by Swedish Allsvenskan side IF Elfsborg in a Europa League encounter held at Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi RAMS Park on Wednesday evening.

The Lion were three goals to the good at halftime, with Mauro Icardi, Isak Pettersson (og) and Barış Alper Yılmaz putting their names on the scoresheet.

The visitors reduced the deficit to one goal with 25 minutes to go, thanks to Niklas Hult and Michael Baidoo's strikes, but Yunus Akgün made it 4-2 after exchanging passes with Victor Osimhen.

Elfsborg did not lie down and pulled one back through Johan Larsson, who took out his marker and applied a cute finish in the second minute of stoppage time.

For the first time in his career, Nigeria U23 international Ibrahim Buhari played against  Osimhen, and it's a duel he came out on top as he prevented the in-form Galatasaray striker from finding the back of the net. 

After the match, Buhari spoke highly of Osimhen, emphasizing that the current African Footballer of the Year is Nigeria’s biggest star right now.

"He is an absolute top player, the biggest we have in Nigeria now. I think I played a good match against him - he didn't score any goals," Buhari told Swedish newspaper Borås Tidning.

In his last season at Plateau United, Ibtrahim was the highest scoring defender in the Nigerian top flight with six goals, earning himself a transfer to Elfsborg in the process.

The 23-year-old was named in the Super Eagles squad for a pair of friendlies with Mexico and Ecuador in the summer of 2022.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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