Balotelli on target, sluggish Celtic held in Europe

July 27, 2017 | 09:52

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PARIS: Mario Balotelli scored for Nice in a 1-1 draw at home to Ajax while Celtic laboured to a 0-0 stalemate against Rosenborg in the first leg of Wednesday's (Jul 26) Champions League third qualifying round.

Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir's Eljero Elia (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the first leg of the third qualifying round football match for the UEFA Champions League competition against Belgian team Club Brugge KSV. (JASPER JACOBS/BELGA/AFP)

Italy striker Balotelli tapped home a cross from Jean Seri to fire Nice ahead on 32 minutes at the Allianz Riviera, but Donny van de Beek levelled for Ajax just after the break following a poor punch from Yoan Cardinale.

In Glasgow, Celtic struggled to break down Norwegian opponents Rosenberg without the injured Moussa Dembele and Lee Griffiths, who was banned for one match by UEFA for "provoking spectators" in the previous round against Linfield.

Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon produced a series of excellent stops to deny former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner, Anders Konradsen Matthias Vilhjalmsson, with the hosts fortunate to escape without serious damage.

"Nil-nil is never a bad result in Europe. If you can't score it is important we don't concede," said Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers.

"I was pleased with the players. We were up against it a wee bit without strikers. They (Rosenborg) will want to come out a little bit more than they did, they will need to take the initiative. It is still evenly-balanced."

Dynamo Kiev secured a 3-1 advantage over Swiss side Young Boys in Ukraine, while Brazilian midfielder Mossoro struck twice as Turkish runners-up Istanbul Basaksehir rallied from two goals down in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Club Brugge.

The return legs are scheduled for Aug 1-2.

Champions League third qualifying round, first-leg results:

FC Astana (KAZ) 3 Legia Warsaw (POL) 1
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) 3 Young Boys (SUI) 1
Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC (ISR) 2 Ludogorets (BUL) 0

Viitorul (ROM) 1 APOEL (CYP) 0
Celtic (SCO) 0 Rosenborg (NOR) 0
Maribor (SLO) 1 FH Hafnarfjordur (ISL) 0

Salzburg (AUT) 1 Rijeka (CRO) 1
Nice (FRA) 1 Ajax (NED) 1
Club Brugge (BEL) 3 Istanbul Basaksehir (TUR) 3

AFP

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