LONDON: Napoli took a big step towards the Champions League group stage with a 2-0 win over outclassed nine-man Nice in the first leg of their playoff on Wednesday.

Former European champions Celtic were helped by two own goals as they thumped Astana 5-0 at home and a late goal from Wissam Ben Yedder gave Sevilla a 2-1 win at Istanbul Basaksehir in torrential rain.

Olympiakos came from behind to beat Rijeka 2-1 at home with a last-minute goal from Jacques Alaixys Romao in another of the ties.

Italian sides have been beaten in the playoff ties for the last three seasons, but Napoli are well-placed to end that run after their win against Nice, who have never played in the group stage.

Napoli, third in Serie A and in the Champions League last 16 last year, were a class above the French punishing defensive errors in front of a delighted 50,000 home fans at the San Paolo Stadium.

“At this stage of the season, we can say we played a great match,” said Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri. “We were playing against a team who were more advanced than us in physical preparations, so the risk was very high.”

Dries Mertens put Napoli ahead in the 13th minute when the Belgium international sprung the offside trap to race onto Marek Hamsik’s chipped pass and slot past advancing Nice goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale.

The 30-year-old forward was instrumental in Napoli’s second, winning a penalty when he was tripped by Christophe Jallet just inside the area, although replays suggested it happened just outside the penalty area. Jorginho converted the spot-kick in the 70th minute.

“Today was a very important match, we told ourselves that. The team played well and gave everything,” Mertens said. “But I think 2-0 is too little. It’s not bad, but if we watch the match again I think it’s too little looking at our performance.”

Nice’s night went from bad to worse 12 minutes from time when midfielder Vincent Koziello was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski and team-mate Alassane Plea followed him off the pitch after receiving a second yellow for dissent.

It was a third straight defeat for Lucien Favre’s side who have lost their first two French Ligue 1 matches.

“We could have avoided the two red cards, but it’s a bit harsh,” Favre said. “It’s regrettable to finish with nine men, but what’s good is that we kept the scoreline the same because at 3-0 down we would have been done for. While now, there’s still hope.”

Nice struggled to create anything without injured duo Mario Balotelli and Wesley Sneijder, who both used to play in Italy. The French side will hope to have them back for the return home leg in the Allianz Riviera stadium on August 22.

OWN GOALS

Celtic remarkably scored five goals despite managing only three shots on target, according to UEFA statistics.

Yevgeni Postnikov turned Tom Rogic’s cross into his own goal just after the half hour and Scott Sinclair steered the ball beyond Aleksandr Mokin to give Celtic a 2-0 halftime lead.

Sinclair struck again on the hour after the referee surprisingly waved play on following a clash of heads near the halfway line.

James Forrest drilled home a fourth and Igor Shitov deflected a fifth into his own goal to help the Scottish champions secure a commanding advantage to take to Kazakhstan for the return leg next Tuesday.

“It was an outstanding team performance and the boys deserve a huge amount of credit. They managed the game very well,” said Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.

Champions League newcomers Istanbul Basaksehir face a tough task to reach the group stage after allowing Sevilla two away goals.

Sergio Escudero opened the scoring for the Spanish side in the 16th minute with a low shot into the bottom far corner.

Eljero Elia leveled shortly after the hour mark, but Ben Yedder gave new Sevilla coach Eduardo Berizzo a valuable win in his first competitive game in charge when the Franco-Tunisian forward flicked in Jesus Navas’ cross with six minutes to play.

“Our opponents are a technical side. If you give them the ball, they make life hard for you. In the second leg we need to dictate the play more,” said the Argentine.

Rijeka, who last season broke Dinamo Zagreb’s run of 11 successive Croatian titles, are still in with a fighting chance of making the group stage for the first time despite losing to Olympiakos.

Brazilian striker Heber scored his first goal for Rijeka in the 42nd minute but Vadis Odjidja levelled with a thumping finish and, after Rijeka had left back Leonard Zuta sent off for a second booking, Romao hooked in the winner from close range.

The second leg will be played in Rijeka’s tiny stadium which has a capacity of less than 9,000.

Elsewhere, Israeli champions Hapoel Beer-Sheva beat Maribor of Slovenia 2-1 at home.

There was an early scare for Beer-Sheva, also looking for a first group stage appearance, as Marcos Tavares took advantage of a defensive error to fire Maribor ahead in the 10th minute.

But Nigerian Anthony Nwakaeme volleyed a spectacular goal from outside the area two minutes later and Shir Tzedek converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Maor Melikson was fouled by Blaz Vrhovec to give his side a slender lead to take to Slovenia next week.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2017