FOOTBALL – Nottingham Forest survived a scare against Fenerbahce last night in the Europa League play-off second leg as they booked their place in the last 16 with a 4-2 aggregate win.
Forest looked to have the job done against the Turkish side after a handsome 3-0 victory in last week’s first leg in Istanbul.
But Kerem Akturkoglu’s double put Fenerbahce 2-0 up at the City Ground as they threatened one of the great European comebacks.
However, Callum Hudson-Odoi’s second-half strike killed the tie and sent Forest through to a last-16 meeting with either Real Betis or FC Midtjylland, despite a 2-1 defeat on the night.
Meanwhile, Stuttgart reached the round of 16 despite their second-leg 1-0 home loss to Celtic last night.
Stuttgart, who are currently fourth in the Bundesliga, advanced 4-2 on aggregate after winning the first leg 4-1 in Glasgow.
Celtic restored some pride with Luke McCowan putting the visitors ahead in the opening minute of the match. After a first leg to forget for Martin O’Neill, in what was his 1,000th career game overall as manager, this was a much improved performance ahead of Celtic’s visit to arch rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Like in the Champions League, the top eight finishers in the league phase advanced automatically to the last 16. The teams placed from nine to 24 entered a two-leg playoff.
Stuttgart will play Braga or Porto next. The draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals is scheduled for today.
Veteran striker Olivier Giroud scored early for Lille which was enough to force extra time in Belgrade against hosts Red Star. Substitute Nathan Ngoy netted the winner nine minutes into extra time as Lille beat Red Star 2-0 for a 2-1 aggregate victory to set up a last-16 game against Aston Villa or Lyon.
Panathinaikos prevailed 4-3 in a penalty shootout over Viktoria Plzen after a 2-2 draw in the first leg and 1-1 at the end of extra time for 3-3 overall. Andreas Tetteh put the Greek visitors ahead from the edge of the area early in the Czech city of Plzen. Karel Spácil headed an equalizer in the second half, forcing extra time which was goalless.
In Budapest, Ferencváros advanced 3-2 on aggregate after a 2-0 second-leg win over Ludogorets with first-half goals from Gabi Kanichowsky and Kristoffer Zachariassen.
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