Victor Osimhen's first-half penalty gave Galatasaray a deserved 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League, inflicting back-to-back defeats on Arne Slot's side for only the second time in his tenure. The reigning Premier League champions were sloppy defensively and lacked creativity, with the Turkish side dominating the first half at a raucous Rams Park.
Liverpool's makeshift right-back Dominik Szoboszlai endured a torrid night against Baris Alper Yilmaz, who won the penalty after being caught in the face by the Hungarian's trailing hand. Osimhen drilled the spot-kick straight down the middle past Alisson. The Nigerian striker could have added a second but squandered two clear openings early in the second half.
Liverpool thought they had a lifeline when referee Clément Turpin awarded an 89th-minute penalty for a foul by Wilfried Singo on Ibrahima Konaté, but he overturned the decision after a pitchside review, ruling that Singo had played the ball first. Slot defended his decision to rest Mohamed Salah until the 62nd minute, blaming a disjointed second half on Galatasaray's tendency to go down easily.
The result leaves Liverpool with work to do in Group B, while Galatasaray claimed only their second win in 19 Champions League group games, bouncing back from a 5-1 thrashing at Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday one.
