Celtic in CL driving seat
Best of the Rest
Griffiths puts struggling Celtic in Champions League driving seat: Leigh Griffiths levelled 12 minutes from time to give struggling Celtic a 1-1 draw at Astana in their Champions League third qualifying round first leg clash on Wednesday.
The result gave Brendan Rodgers’s side the upper hand ahead of their return clash in Glasgow next week, but the Kazakh side were unfortunate not to have finished with the advantage. Astana hit the woodwork twice while Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon pulled off a number of fine saves. Yuri Logvinenko headed Astana in front in the 19th minute when the defender was first to a corner.
Griffiths
But Scottish striker Griffiths equalised after 78 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box to give his team hope of making the play-off round.
Before Celtic levelled, the Kazakh champions saw Azat Nurgaliyev hit the crossbar while Junior Kabananga had also seen a shot come back off the post.
Monaco’s goalkeeping woes continued as the French side fell 2-1 at Fenerbahce with Italian keeper Morgan De Sanctis forced off injured after 13 minutes.
The hosts took the lead in Istanbul after Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike got the first of his two goals on 39 minutes. But Radamel Falcao got Monaco back into the tie three minutes later. (AFP)
Sundowns
reach
semis:
Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa secured a CAF Champions League semi-finals place Wednesday, while record eighttime title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt got back into contention to join them.
Sundowns edged Zamalek of Egypt 1-0 in a cagey Pretoria clash after Ali Gabr conceded an own goal 11 minutes from time on a cold southern hemisphere winter night.
Gabr deflected a low Percy Tau cross past goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy in a game of few clearcut scoring chances.
Colombian Leonardo Castro should have given Sundowns an early lead, but blazed over with a clear sight of goal, and El Shenawy used a leg to foil Zimbabwean Khama Billiat later in the half. (AFP)
Higuain sets sights on title:
After joining Juventus in the most expensive transfer in Italian football history, Gonzalo Higuain has already set his sights on a Champions League title.
At his presentation Thursday, Higuain declared that Juventus’ goal this season is a treble — winning Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Champions League.
“Clearly it’s a dream but that’s what we’ve got to work for all season,” the Argentina striker said. “I hope to win a lot of titles with Juve . ... Now it’s up to me to show why they spent so much money to buy me.” (AP)