FC Astra Giurgiu 1 - Celtic 1
Scottish Champions Celtic could only draw with Astra Giurgiu on Thursday in their latest Europa League match. On a foggy evening in Romania, they entered the Stadionul Marin Anastasovici knowing that victory would have seen them qualify from Group D with two games to spare, but after earning a point they still seem well placed to join leaders Salzburg in the later stages of the competition. The next round of matches will see Salzburg come to Celtic Park in what promises to be an interesting return game, after the entertaining 2-2 draw the two teams played out in Austria earlier this year.
Celtic took the lead against their Romanian opponents just after the half hour mark, when midfielder Stefan Johansen's shot took a slight deflection on its way into the top corner of the net after Charlie Mulgrew's initial free-kick had been blocked. Although there were chances at both ends after the goal, the Glasgow side had looked to be in control until Douglas William Amorim curled a delightful shot past keeper Craig Gordon with only eleven minutes remaining.
The game ended in a draw, but not before a horrendous high two- footed lunge by Vincent Laban on Mulgrew in injury time saw him given his marching orders.
In the other Group D game, Austrian club FC Red Bull Salzburg confirmed their place in the next round with a convincing 5-1 win away to Dinamo Zagreb.
Spanish striker Jonathan Soriano Casas was their star man on the night with a hat-trick, ably supported by goals from Kevin Kampl and Massimo Bruno. The Croatians had briefly pulled the score back to 2-1 on the hour mark, through a goal from the Manchester United loanee Angelo Jose Henriquez Iturra, but the away team ran out easy winners in the end.
Two other early qualifiers on a busy night of Europa League action were Dinamo Moscow in Group E and Legia Warsaw in Group L. Dinamo claimed a narrow 1-0 victory at home to Estoril Praia, while Legia had to come from behind to earn a 2-1 result against Metalist Kharkiv, as both sides maintained the only 100% records in the competition this season.