Champions League Qualifying round up

Celtic 5-0 Astana

Celtic started off the brighter team and had the majority of the early chances. The Scottish champions went ahead on the half hour mark after a brilliant run from Tom Rogic. The Australian drove past two challenges and reached the byline before delivering a low cross that Yevgeny Postnikov (Astana) looked to clear, but inadvertently turned into his own net.

Celtic doubled their lead just before half-time after poor play from the visitors allowed Scott Sinclair to be played through the defence and finish past Aleksandr Mokin.

Sinclair bagged his second after 60 minutes when he ran onto a delightful through ball and himself one-on-one with the Astana keeper. The winger made no mistake and calmly slotted into the left corner.

James Forrest got on the scoresheet with 10 minutes remaining after he finished a well-worked Celtic goal. Leigh Griffiths slipped the ball to Forrest to finish nicely into the far corner.

Astana ended the game on a sour note with an Igor Shitov own goal. Griffiths cut in from the right and fired a left footed shot towards goal, but the strike was deflected and nestled into the far corner. It would be an understatement to say Celtic have one foot in the group stages.

Hapoel Beer-Sheva 2-1 Maribor

A fiery start to the game brought two goals in two minutes. Maribor went ahead after 10 minutes when Marcos Tavares broke through the defence and beat the Hapoel Be'er Sheva keeper to slot home.

There was an immediate response, however, from the hosts when Tony Nwakaeme unleashed a stunning strike from the edge of the box that fired into the top right corner.

The home side grabbed the lead just before half-time after Shir Tzedek expertly converted a penalty into the roof of the net. The second half past with chances for both sides but neither could capitalise allowing Hapoel Beer-Sheva to head to Maribor with the advantage.

Istanbul Buyuksehir 1-2 Sevilla

Sevilla were the clear favourites in the match up with Turkish side Istanbul Buyuksehir and the former Europa League champions asserted their authority after just 16 minutes. Joaquín Correa found Sergio Escudero on the left side of the box and he fired a left footed strike past Volkan Babacan.

Istanbul Buyuksehir got themselves back into the game 20 minutes into the second half when Mahmut Tekdemir played a through ball for Eljero Elia, who met the ball and finished with a shot into the centre of the goal.

Sevilla scored the winner with 5 minutes to go when Wissam Ben Yedder stroked home from close range. The Spanish side will be hoping for a better performance to put them through to the group stages in the return leg.  

Napoli 2-0 Nice

Napoli were all over the French side in the early stages at the San Paulo stadium and made their pressure count after 13 minutes. Lorenzo Insigne played a through ball into the path of Dries Mertens, who slot past Yoan Cardinale into the middle of the goal.

Nice came into the game but always looked the inferior side and Napoli doubled their advantage on 70 minutes. Mertens was brought down in the area to earn a penalty that Jorginho stroked past the Nice goalkeeper.

The final 20 minutes were ruined by two Nice red cards. First, Vincent Koziello was shown a red card for violent conduct, then Alassane Pléa picked up a second yellow. Napoli are firmly in the driving seat to reach the Champions League group stages.   

Olympiakos FC 2-1 Rijeka

The game came to life when Rijeka took the lead after 41 minutes. Mario Gavranovic found Héber Araujo dos Santos on the edge of the box and the winger unleashed a strike that flew into the bottom left corner.

Olympiakos equalised just after the hour mark when Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe sent a right footed shot into the top corner.

Rijeka were reduced to 10 men on 83 minutes after Leonard Zhuta was shown a second yellow card for hand ball. 

The hosts grabbed a late winner when Jacques-Alaixys Romao powered a header into the Rijeka net following a set piece situation. The Greek side take a slim advantage into the return leg at Rijeka