This chaotic defeat will not stop Tottenham progressing in the Europa League, but there’s every chance it will linger. The ringing in the ears of Ange Postecoglou and his players when they wake in London will see to that.
Remind them it was not just some sort of fever dream. For the first hour, Spurs were mauled by Galatasaray. Sliced open with astonishing regularity, their goal peppered with 27 efforts by the Turks, who scored three before half-time.
Victor Osimhen gave a lesson in the art of centre forward play and only Fraser Forster’s heroics kept humiliation at bay before, having been reduced to 10 men on the hour, they summoned some sort of fightback as Galatasaray ran out of energy and ended up hanging on.
The boisterous home crowd, having generated an ear-splitting din for most of the night ended up whistling for referee Lawrence Visser to bring it to an end.
It was breathless, brilliant and bonkers. And Will Lankshear will certainly not forget his second start for the club. The teenage striker scored his first goal and was sent off for collecting two yellow cards in seven second-half minutes.
Galatasaray triumphed 3-2 over Tottenham thanks to a superb brace from Victor Osimhen
The Galatasaray summer signing netted twice in eight minutes to put his side in full control
It was a first-half to forget for Ange Postecoglou’s side who kept throwing away possession
Galatasaray set off at 100 miles per hour and scored early. A spectacular goal it was, too, scored by Yunus Akgun, who spent last season on loan at Leicester in the Championship.
Gabriel Sara angled a free kick into Spurs penalty box, and it was headed out towards Akgun who adjusted his feet quickly as it bounced his way and smashed it back, beyond the dive of Fraser Forster.
The volume went up and off the scale, which must have been something of an experience for this Spurs team, depleted and featuring three teenagers, including 19-year-old centre forward Lankshear who was making only his second start.
Lankshear turned his back on Akgun’s opener although any criticism washed away when he equalised from close range after Brennan Johnson nursed a pass from Archie Gray square across goal. It was a simple enough finish but a special moment for a young striker who started in Arsenal’s academy and crossed North London via Sheffield United.
Most of Tottenham’s problems, however, were at the back where Pedro Porro was the only one of the first-choice defensive unit to start, with central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven out injured and Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario starting on the bench.
They looked fragile in the face of Galatasaray’s potent spearhead, easily unzipped and frequently caught in possession by the energy and intensity of the Turkish champions, roared on by a febrile home crowd.
Radu Dragusin was culpable more often than most and missed a chance to halt the move leading to Galatasaray’s second, which was clinically converted by Osimhen, stabbed low past Forster with his toe-end having eased clear of Ben Davies into space.
His second was another exquisite piece of finishing. This time a volley guided just inside a post while leaping to reach a teasing cross clipped in from the right by Dries Mertens. He was electric, with pace and movement to create space and lethal in front of goal.
Yunus Akgun opened the scoring for the Turkish side with a sublime volley in the sixth minute
Teenager Will Lankshear tapped home from close range to level the score for Tottenham
But his night ended in heartbreak after referee Lawrence Visser gave him his marching orders after brandishing a second yellow card after his late tackle on Galatasaray’s Gabriel Sara
During this purple patch at the end of the first half, Osimhen also had a goal ruled out for offside and was twice denied by fine saves from Forster. Galatasaray led 3-1 at the interval and went off to a standing ovation but they might easily have had five or six.
Spurs hardly made it out of their own half. Postecoglou sent on Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur to replace wingers Johnson and Heung-min Son with James Maddison pushed out to the left wing as the Spurs boss searched for control but there was no respite.
Forster fumbled a cross early in the second half and another Agkun volley deflected wide. Osimhen headed a good chance wide and was then frustrated again by the Tottenham keeper who blocked another with his feet.
Then, on the hour, Lankshear was sent off for a second yellow card and somehow Spurs pulled one back, substitute Solanke getting ahead of his marker to turn a low Pedro Porro cross over the line with a neat flicked finished behind his standing leg.
Mauro Icardi had a goal ruled out offside but Postecoglou threw on more senior players and his 10 men finished the game on top.
