This was the kind of breathless, wild encounter in which both Galatasaray and Tottenham routinely get along, and the only surprise was a goal tally that did no justice to a game whose openness was incredible. Spurs should have been torn apart by hosts who had no idea how to put the handbrake on and ended up firing 28 shots. A great shot from Yunus Akgun and two goals from Victor Osimhen, who had countless other chances, completed their tally by half-time, but somehow Ange Postecoglou's side remained indecisive until the matter was over.

That was partly because 19-year-old Will Lankshear scored his first goal for the senior team, cheering in front of the home team's cheering fans, but was thwarted by a second yellow card after half an hour. Dominic Solanke later provided an unlikely lifeline and although there was no equaliser, this defeat should have little impact on Tottenham's chances of reaching the knockout stages.

The chances of a quiet affair had been minimal from the start, and that was before anyone had even considered an atmosphere that, as Postecoglou had admitted, was the kind that football is played for. Galatasaray have scored almost three goals per game in the domestic league and beat Elfsborg 4-3 in their last European game here. The who's who of attacking talent on display was a real eye-catcher, and if Mauro Icardi and Dries Mertens have any late-career touches in them, Osimhen's arrival in the summer means they can field one of the best centre-forwards around.

They were all momentarily eclipsed within five minutes by Akgun, who was on loan at Leicester last season. It was a magnificent blow; A masterful display of technique, made all the more impressive by the fact that Archie Gray had clearly done enough when he headed Gabriel Sara's free-kick clear. Akgun ran around the ball as it bounced over the D, hit it perfectly and sent it thundering into Fraser Forster's top left corner.

Then, in a moment the youngster will cherish, the hosts' stars were overshadowed by Lankshear. It looked like they would turn things around as Forster cleared from Osimhen and Akgun shot erratically on a retry but was clinically picked apart in two passes. One of them was wedged diagonally into the path of Brennan Johnson by Gray; The next was a volleyed cross that Lankshear, showing the instincts of a goalscorer, fired home from close range.

The Spurs managed without seven absences and it affected Postecoglou's rotation options that Mikey Moore, the young winger, was ruled out through illness. Lankshear justified the decision to give Solanke a rest, but by then they were overloaded and Galatasaray soon resumed the attack.

Forster thwarted a clean pass from Osimhen, watched as Mertens fired the rebound wide and was lucky that the Nigerian was denied a goal. But Spurs could hardly be blamed for making their own luck and they were devastated again after half an hour when Radu Dragusin lost his body as he received a routine pass from Ben Davies, allowing Icardi to knock the ball away . It rolled to Mertens, who tiptoed Osimhen past Forster and into the goal, causing chaos once again.

Osimhen saw the whites of Forster's eyes once more, but once again paused commendably. It became a personal battle and almost immediately he struck another blow. Mertens' cross on the right was whipped perfectly and Osimhen, at waist level, cushioned a brilliant finish into the far corner, leaving Tottenham praying for the break.

How to stem the tide and save your legs at the same time? Postecoglou's response was to use Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski for Johnson and a marginal Son Heung-min, but the pattern continued. Osimhen missed a free header that, in another dimension, might have given him his sixth goal of the game. A foul from Forster caused a scramble near the line and then Akgun took aim again and saw a volley deflected just wide. In the 57th minute, Osimhen looked certain to finally complete his hat-trick, but Forster, who had a rebound the other way, deflected the ball away with a trailing foot.

The barrage was constant; Galarasaray's appetite to sit back is negligible. When Lankshear got another pullback, he couldn't connect adequately and the underused Fernando Muslera made an easy save.

If that was proof to Lankshear that things weren't going to be easy, it had nothing to do with what followed. He had already been booked and then, perhaps frustrated at being dispossessed just before half-time, he pounced on Sara and gave the referee, Lawrence Visser, the easiest call he could make.

Forster quickly parried against Baris Alper Yilmaz and Akgun. Tottenham were overwhelmed and it seemed almost ridiculous when the recently introduced Solanke, who deftly backheeled Pedro Porro's cross, provided hope. Nothing came of it as Kulusevski couldn't catch Muslera in stoppage time, but the evening's entertainment had been plenty.