Çorum Stun Galatasaray and Earn a Draw on Their SuperLig Debut

The champions suffered more than expected in their season opener. Galatasaray were held to a 2-2 draw by newly promoted Çorum FK at RAMS Park in a match that initially appeared to be under the home side’s control but eventually turned into a real battle.

Victor Osimhen was the star for Gala with a brace, while Alexandros Kyziridis and Jesús Ramírez scored Çorum’s first goals in the top flight of Turkish soccer.

The newly promoted side even finished the match with 10 men but survived the champions’ pressure and came extremely close to taking all three points in stoppage time.

Galatasaray Dominate, but Çorum Hold Firm

Çorum started without fear, looking to press and quickly attack the opposition goal. However, as the minutes passed, Galatasaray took control of possession and began to pin the visitors back.

In the eighth minute, captain Abdülkerim Bardakcı headed a corner just wide.

Two minutes later came Çorum’s first opportunity in the SuperLig. Alexandros Kyziridis tried his luck with a header, although his effort went wide.

Then Osimhen began to make his presence felt.

The Nigerian threatened in the 14th minute with a header and tried again in the 24th with a shot from the edge of the box that Marcos Felipe managed to save.

One minute later, Yunus Akgün found the back of the net with an excellent header, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Galatasaray kept attacking.

Osimhen had more opportunities in the 33rd and 35th minutes, while Gabriel Sara forced Marcos Felipe into another good save in the 36th.

Çorum survived any way they could.

And they managed to reach halftime with the score still 0-0.

Osimhen Scores, but Çorum Turn It Around

The second half began exactly the same way.

Osimhen threatened again with a header, but Marcos Felipe was there once more.

Until the 52nd minute, when there was nothing he could do.

The Nigerian striker won the race to the ball, beat the goalkeeper to it and, from an extremely tight angle, finished with the inside of his foot to make it 1-0.

It was the first goal of the new SuperLig season.

It appeared Galatasaray had finally broken through the wall.

But Çorum responded spectacularly.

In the 56th minute, Alexandros Kyziridis unleashed a stunning long-range strike that flew into the top corner, silencing RAMS Park and scoring the club’s first-ever goal in the SuperLig.

Four minutes later, the unthinkable happened.

Jesús Ramírez capitalized on a mistake from Davinson Sánchez and produced an excellent finish to make it 2-1.

In the space of just eight minutes, the champions had gone from controlling the match to trailing at home against the newly promoted side.