Celtic ousted by AEK Athens

Aug 16, 2018 06:00 am

Brendan Rodgers' Celtic were dumped out of the Champions League by AEK Athens as they slumped to a 2-1 loss in their third qualifying round, second leg in Greece yesterday morning (Singapore time).

The Scottish champions had been held to a 1-1 draw despite their opponents playing much of the game with only 10 men in last week's first leg at Parkhead, and failed to turn the tie around after Rodrigo Galo gave the hosts a sixth-minute lead.

Croatian forward Marko Livaja's strike early in the second half left Celtic needing two unanswered goals to progress. Scott Sinclair headed home with 12 minutes remaining to give Celtic hope, but AEK held on.

AEK go on to face Hungarians MOL Vidi in the play-off round, while Celtic slip into the same stage of the Europa League after failing in their bid to reach the Champions League proper for a third straight season. - AFP