A day after three of five road sides felt good with their work in first legs of the UEFA Champions League playoff round, it was the hosts time to celebrate good results.
Home sides in Italy, Scotland, Greece, and Israel posted wins. Spanish side Sevilla did manage a road win.
Napoli 2-0 Nice
Chances and even possession was at a premium for the visitors, and Napoli found its breakthrough from one of the more overlooked gems in the world. Dries Mertens scored in the first half, his sixth career UCL goal, and Jorginho converted a second half penalty to give Napoli a foot in the group stage.
Adding insult was a pair of red cards in the 80th minute, the first to Vincent Koziello for a dangerous tackle (it was a harsh call) and Alassane Plea was given a second yellow for protesting the sending off.
Celtic 5-0 Astana
A pair of Scott Sinclair goals joined an Astana own goal as the Bhoys went a long way towards avoiding the tight tie that made the last round tricky.
Olympiacos 2-1 Rijeka
Heber gave the visitors a halftime lead in the 42nd minute, but Vadis Odjidja-Ofoeequalized in the 66th minute to minimize the damage for Olympiacos, who would go on to win.
Basaksehir 1-2 Sevilla
Remember Eljero Elia? The Dutchman’s on his eighth club and third since leaving Southampton after just a half season, but he’s given his Turkish side hope against mighty Sevilla after Sergio Escudero gave the Spanish side an early lead and Wissam Ben Yedder nabbed the winner
Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2-1 Maribor
Goals from Anthony Nwakaeme and Shir Tzedek boosted the Israeli hosts to a come-from-behind win.
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