LONDON: Wolverhampton Wanderers moved to the brink of the Europa League group stages on Thursday with an impressive 3-2 play-off, first leg win at Torino.

The English Premier League side, playing in their first European campaign since 1981, went ahead through an own-goal from Gleison Bremer just before half-time.

Diogo Jota made it 2-0 on the hour mark but Lorenzo de Silvestri pulled one back for the Italians two minutes later.

Raul Jimenez restored Wolves’ two-goal lead after 72 minutes before Andrea Belotti’s penalty for Torino in the dying moments kept the Serie A side in the tie ahead of the return leg at Molineux next Thursday.

“It’s a close tie. It’s not over, far from being over. We have to take on a very tough team,” Wolves coach Nuno Espirito Santo told the Express and Star newspaper. “We played good. We were organised, we stayed in shape. We produced some goals but like I say, one game to go.”

Wolves broke the deadlock in Turin when Bremer headed into his own net two minutes before half-time and Jota extended the visitors’s lead, slotting home neatly from 10 yards but Torino pulled a goal back, with De Silvestri powering home a header at the back post.

Jimenez restored Wolves’ two-goal advantage when he ran through on goal and finished neatly but Belotti pulled one back in the 89th minute after Ruben Vinagre had tripped the forward in the box.

Celtic, dumped out of the Champions League last week by CFR Cluj of Romania, saw off AIK of Sweden 2-0 at home.

James Forrest scored in his fifth consecutive game early in the second half with Frenchman Odsonne Edouard’s curling free-kick making it 2-0 in the 73rd minute.

“It was a great team performance,” said Celtic manager Neil Lennon. “We played well in the first-half but I thought we were magnificent in the second. Some of the football we played was great and we scored fantastic goals.”

Glasgow rivals Rangers are also well-placed for a spot in the group stages thanks to a 0-0 draw at Polish side Legia Warsaw.

Elsewhere, last season’s semi-finalists Eintracht Frankfurt fell 1-0 at Strasbourg with Kevin Lucien Zohi’s 33rd-minute strike earning the French side victory over their Bundesliga opponents.

Espanyol were 3-1 winners at home to Ukranians Zorya Luhansk despite going behind to Vladyslav Kochergin’s first-half strike before rallying through goals from Facundo Ferreyra, Javi Lopez and Matias Vargas in the second half. They even saw a penalty from Esteban Granero saved.

Turkey’s Trabzonspor also came from a goal behind to win 3-1 at AEK Athens with Caleb Ekuban scoring a hat-trick and FC Copenhagen beat Riga by the same scoreline.

There were convincing 3-0 home wins for Dutch sides Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven. Feyenoord beat Hapoel Beer Sheva thanks to a brace from Leroy Fer while three goals in 14 second half minutes helped PSV to a home win over Apollon Limassol but fellow Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Royal Antwerp.

Shayne Lavery scored twice as Northern Ireland’s Linfield secured one of the best results in their history, winning 3-2 against Azerbaijan champions Qarabag, and former Manchester United winger Zoran Tosic scored in Partizan Belgrade’s 2-1 win against Molde.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2019