Late strike gives Valencia cushion
Print Edition
SOFIANE Feghouli’s late goal eased the nerves at Valencia’s Mestalla as the Spanish club grabbed a 3-1 victory over Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League playoff round tie on Wednesday.
The Algerian’s 86th minute intervention gave two-times runners-up Valencia a reasonable cushion for next week’s second leg across the Mediterranean as they attempt to return to the group stage after a two-year absence.
A sell-out crowd roared Valencia on and they did not have to wait long to celebrate a goal when Feghouli headed the ball down for Rodrigo to score.
The mood changed shortly after halftime though when Mario Pasalic punished a poor clearance to equalize.
Captain Daniel Parejo restored Valencia’s lead before Feghouli drove home the third.
“It’s a good result, the only downside is that we conceded a goal,” midfielder Parejo said.
Scottish champions Celtic also looked set to travel to Malmo with some breathing space but former Celtic loanee Jo Inge Berget’s second goal of the night in the fifth minute of stoppage time left them the sweating with a 3-2 win.
Leigh Griffiths scored twice for Celtic with Nir Biton also on target.
Swiss club FC Basel face a tough second leg away to Maccabi Tel Aviv after Eran Zahavi’s stoppage time header earned the Israel side a 2-2 draw. Zahavi had put Maccabi ahead before Matias Delgado drew the hosts level from the penalty spot. Breel Embolo looked like he had claimed a winner for the hosts two minutes from time, before Zahavi’s intervention.
Shakhtar Donetsk were 1-0 winners away to Rapid Vienna with Marlos scoring just before halftime.
Another late goal, scored by Josip Pivaric, gave Croatians Dinamo Zagreb a 2-1 away win over Albanians Skenderbeu.
Captain Blendi Shkembi had fired the home side ahead with a superb free kick but Dinamo moved up a gear after the break and equalized through Algerian striker El Arbi Hillel Soudani.
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