Galatasaray 2–2 Corum FK: Osimhen's Late Equaliser

The champions walked out to a party. They left with a warning.

Galatasaray’s title defence began with a jolt in Istanbul as newly promoted Corum FK came within minutes of a stunning victory, only for Victor Osimhen to drag the hosts back to a 2–2 draw in the Turkish Super League opener.

The Nigerian striker scored twice, including a late equaliser, but his goals could not disguise how fragile the champions looked against top-flight debutants who refused to be intimidated by the occasion.

Osimhen strikes first, but Corum hit back

For 53 minutes, it all followed the script.

After a cagey first half in which Yunus Akgun thought he had opened the scoring only to see his effort correctly ruled out for offside, Osimhen finally broke the deadlock. The forward, brought in to be the ruthless finisher of this new campaign, delivered the first official goal of the 2026/27 Turkish Super League season, and the atmosphere inside the home of the champions relaxed.

It felt like the afternoon Galatasaray expected: control, patience, then the breakthrough.

Corum FK tore that script up.

The newcomers, playing their first ever match in the Super League, refused to settle for damage limitation. They grew bolder, pushed higher, and suddenly the game flipped. Alexandros Kyziridis struck to level the match, and before Galatasaray could steady themselves, Jesus Ramirez pounced to turn the contest on its head.

In a matter of minutes, the champions were staring at an opening-day defeat on their own turf. Corum, as highlighted by TV100, looked every bit capable of walking away with all three points and a statement win to announce their arrival in the division.

Osimhen’s late rescue act

The pressure inside the stadium rose with every passing minute. Galatasaray, so used to suffocating opponents at home, found themselves chasing, snatching at chances, and leaving gaps as they pushed forward.

Osimhen refused to let the story end there.

As the clock ticked into the closing stages, the Nigerian stepped up again, finding the equaliser that salvaged a point and spared Galatasaray from what would have been one of the shocks of the early season. His brace underlined exactly why he is central to Okan Buruk’s plans for a campaign that will test the squad on multiple fronts.

Two goals, one point. A personal statement, but not the result a champion expects.

Buruk: “We’re not used to this”

Okan Buruk did not hide his frustration when he faced the media afterwards. The draw, he admitted, was not what the champions had in mind for their first league outing.

“We're not 100% ready. No team is 100% ready, and neither are we,” he told GS TV, pointing to the awkward rhythm of a season beginning after a World Cup and the ongoing preparation period for his players. He had warned beforehand that this would be a difficult match. It proved exactly that.

“But of course, we needed to get through this period by winning,” he continued. “We're disappointed, of course we are. We're not used to this kind of thing. We're used to winning, especially at home. We've always played that dominant game. Maybe there have been matches where we played worse and still won. We will do better, we will do it in time.”

The message was clear: this was below their standard, even if there were mitigating factors.

Early lessons for both sides

For Galatasaray, the game exposed the fine line between early-season rust and early-season trouble. The champions dominated many home matches last year even when they were far from their best. This time, their lapses were punished.

For Corum FK, there was no victory, but there was validation. To come from behind, lead the defending champions in their own stadium, and leave with a point on debut is no small feat. They showed resilience, ambition, and enough quality to suggest they will not simply be making up the numbers in the top flight.

They were minutes away from a famous first-night story. Osimhen took that away, but he could not erase the impression Corum made.

Next stop: Erzurum

There is little time for Galatasaray to dwell. Buruk’s side now head into their first away test of the season, a trip to face Erzurumspor, another newly promoted club tasting Super League football for the first time.

It is an immediate chance to reset the tone of their title defence, to turn an opening stumble into a sharp reminder of the standards required.

Osimhen has already shown he is ready. The question now is how quickly the rest of the champions can catch up.