Griffiths puts struggling Celtic in Champions League driving seat

Astana (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – Leigh Griffiths levelled 12 minutes from time to give struggling Celtic a 1-1 draw at Astana in their Champions League third qualifying round first leg clash on Wednesday.

The result gave Brendan Rodgers’s side the upper hand ahead of their return clash in Glasgow next week, but the Kazakh side were unfortunate not to have finished with the advantage.

Astana hit the woodwork twice while Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon pulled off a number of fine saves.

Yuri Logvinenko headed Astana in front in the 19th minute when the defender was first to a corner.

But Scottish striker Griffiths equalised after 78 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box to give his team hope of making the play-off round.

Before Celtic levelled, the Kazakh champions saw Azat Nurgaliyev hit the crossbar while Junior Kabananga had also seen a shot come back off the post.

“A huge amount of credit goes to the players,” Rodgers told the BBC. 

“I think we were all written off before the game. But we are not getting too carried away. We’ve got another game against a very good side.”

Griffiths’s goal was Celtic’s only strike on target while Astana had seven attempts.

The result came after a second qualifying round which had seen the Scottish champions beat Gibraltar’s part-timers Lincoln Red Imps 3-0 but only after embarrassingly losing the first leg 1-0.