Galatasaray, with Yuto Nagatomo in defence, beat Istanbul Basaksehir 2 – 1 in the Super Lig title decider to become the Turkish champion for the 22nd time.

Nagatomo, who missed the Turkish Cup final win, returned to the all-important match in his usual left back position, his fifth straight league start. Galatasaray deployed Mbaye Diagne as the lone striker, with Henry Onyekuru supporting from the left, alongside the marauding Nagatomo.

Needing to avoid a defeat to confirm their league title, Galatasaray did not start well when they went behind at home in the 17th minute. Gael Clichy snuck his way into the penalty area and floated a left-sided cross for Riad Bajic to head in the opening goal. Bajic proceeded to taunt the home supporters with his celebration and prompted a angry hurl of missiles at the Bosnian. The match had to be suspended momentarily until order was assured on and off the field.

Galatasaray equalised in spectacular fashion in the 47th minute when Sofiane Feghouli reacted to his own rebound off a corner kick with an audacious overhead kick. The home side thought they scored another in the 55th minute, but VAR overruled Younes Belhanda’s goal from a prior Onyekuru handball. In the 62nd minute, a Belhanda through pass sent Onyekuru clear to score, but again the goal was chalked off for offside. The Nigerian forward, on loan from Everton, would not be denied again when he pounced on a free kick to finally score two minutes later.

The pulsating match ended 2 – 1 and Galatasaray retained their status as Turkish champion, as well as securing a historic 22nd title.

After the match, Nagatomo posted a video thanking the Galatasaray fans for the support.

Thank you for amazing fans 🙏🙏👏👏💛❤️💛❤️🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/OsSmyYD5jz — Yuto Nagatomo | 長友佑都 (@YutoNagatomo5) May 19, 2019

Galatasaray 2 – 1 Istanbul Basaksehir

(Sofiane Feghouli 47′, Henry Onyekuru 64′ – Riad Bajic 17′)

P Team M W D L P 1 Galatasaray 33 20 9 4 69 2 Istanbul Basaksehir 33 19 9 5 66 3 Besiktas 33 18 8 7 62 4 Trabzonspor 33 17 9 7 60 5 Yeni Malatyaspor 33 13 8 12 47 6 Antalyaspor 33 13 6 14 45 7 Konyaspor 33 9 16 8 43 8 Alanyaspor 33 12 7 14 43 9 Rizespor 33 9 14 10 41 10 Kayserispor 33 10 11 12 41 11 Fenerbahce 32 9 13 10 40 12 Kasimpasa 33 11 6 16 39 13 Sivasspor 32 9 11 12 38 14 Ankaragucu 32 10 7 15 37 15 Goztepe 33 10 5 18 35 16 Bursaspor 33 6 16 11 34 17 Erzurum BB 32 7 11 14 32 18 Akhisar Belediyespor 33 6 8 19 26

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Source: Yahoo

Images: gettyimages