Lemina’s lone strike seal first leg win for for Galatasary in 1-0 win over Liverpool

Galatasaray will take a 1-0 lead to Anfield next week after defeating Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

Mario Lemina was the matchwinner for Galatasaray as they defeated Liverpool 1-0 in their Champions League last 16 first leg on Tuesday. 

The midfielder’s first-half header split the two sides at Rams Park in what was a thrilling encounter that saw a combined four big chances, 30 shots, and two disallowed goals.

Florian Wirtz missed a golden opportunity after just 104 seconds, firing wide after Lemina played the ball straight to him, though the Galatasaray midfielder made a better impact at the other end as he headed in from close range after a well-worked corner.

Wirtz squandered another chance soon after, following good build-up play from Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike, and Alex Mac Allister, while Giorgi Marmardashvili made two excellent saves to deny Noa Lang and Davinson Sanchez.

Dominik Szoboszlai forced a stop from Ugurcan Cakir early in the second half before Mac Allister shot wide of the left post, though the Reds were let off the hook again when Victor Osimhen saw a goal disallowed for offside against Baris Yilmaz in the build-up.

It was then Liverpool’s turn to have a goal ruled out after Ibrahima Konate was adjudged to have handled the ball from a corner before it ricocheted in off Wilfried Singo, while Cakir kept out a potential own goal from Sanchez late on as Galatasaray held on for their first-leg advantage.

The second leg at Anfield will see both sides go for the kill as Liverpool will hope to turn the one-goal deficit around. 

As for Galatasaray, they will look to hold on to the first-leg lead to see out a win to progress to the next stage.