Promise steals show as Gala surrender 33-game unbeaten run

Canadian player of Nigerian descent, Promise David, scored the only goal that ended Galatasaray’s 33-game unbeaten run at home as Royale Union Saint-Gilloise claimed a deserved 1-0 victory at Rams Park in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

Galatasaray were without Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, who is out with a hamstring problem, and his absence was felt as the Turkish giants struggled to break their visitors.

In Osimhen’s absence – who has inspired them to their previous wins in the competition – another player of Nigerian descent, Promis,e stole the show at Rams Park, silencing the home fans in the 57th minute.

The contrasting form of the two sides in this season’s competition to date suggested a comfortable evening for the home side, however, it was the Belgians who had the better of the opening 45 minutes.

Their first opportunity arrived with the half-hour mark approaching when a cross into the area took a deflection and looped into the path of David, who should have done better as he directed his close-range effort just wide of the right post.

The Lions’ three consecutive UCL wins were as many as they had managed in their previous 33 main-draw matches, and although their play in the first 45 minutes didn’t match the heights of their campaign so far, Galatasaray did come close to opening the scoring when Gabriel Sara’s left-footed effort from range came back off the right post.

Having had a reminder of the hosts’ threat, it was the visitors’ turn to hit the woodwork as Ross Sykes’ header from a corner crashed back off the crossbar to deny the Unionistes a halftime lead.

The current Turkish Süper Lig leaders knew they had to improve in the second half, however, they fell behind 12 minutes after the restart.

Having been perhaps slightly fortunate to get away with catching Uğurcan Çakır while on a yellow card moments earlier, David was on hand to give USG the lead moments later as Raul Florucz’s clever reverse pass found Adem Zorgane, and the midfielder squared the ball from the byline to find the Canadian striker who made no mistake from a matter of yards.

The Lions piled on the pressure in the closing stages, with Sara seeing his header saved at the near post by Kjell Scherpen.

From the resulting corner, a block on the line rebounded to Davinson Sánchez, who blazed his effort over the bar when it was easier to score to sum up a disappointing evening for Galatasaray, who lost second-half substitute Arda Ünyay to a second yellow card late on.

For the delighted USG, meanwhile, this victory very much keeps their hopes of a play-off place alive with three games left to play in the league phase.