First matches in Europa League group stage completed

Leicester City draw with Napoli as Real Betis win against Celtic, coming back from 2 goals behind

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - The first matches of the group stage in the UEFA Europa League were completed Thursday.

Playing with only 10 men, English side Leicester City secured a 2-2 draw against Italian club Napoli at Leicester City Stadium.

Leicester took an early lead with Ayoze Perez in the 9th minute and finished the first half in front.

In the second half, the team scored another goal with Harvey Barnes in the 64th minute and made it 2-0, but Napoli responded twice with Victor Osimhen in the 69th and 87th minute.

Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi got a second yellow card in the 93rd minute, leaving his team with 10 men, and the match ended 2-2.

- Goals galore in Betis vs. Celtic match

In another exciting match in the Europa League, Real Betis beat Celtic 4-3, coming back from two goals behind.

Albian Ajeti scored the first goal for Celtic in the 15th minute and then Josip Juranovic scored another one for the Glasgow team from a penalty kick in the 27th minute.

But Real Betis recovered fairly quickly as Juan Miranda took one back in the 32nd minute.

Just three minutes after Miranda's goal, Juanmi equalized for Betis, and the first half ended with a 2-2 draw at Estadio Benito Villamarin in Sevilla.

Betis continued to score in the second half with Borja Iglesias in the 51st minute and with Juanmi's second goal in the 53rd minute.

Celtic were able to get one back with Anthony Ralston in the 87th minute but couldn't equalize and the game ended 4-3 for Betis.

- Results:

Spartak Moscow (Russia) 0-1 Legia Warsaw (Poland)

Galatasaray (Turkey) 1-0 Lazio (Italy)

Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) 1-1 Olympique Marseille (France)

Red Star (Serbia) 2-1 Braga (Portugal)

Midtjylland (Denmark) 1-1 Ludogorets (Bulgaria)

Real Betis (Spain) 4-3 Celtic (Scotland)

Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) 2-1 Ferencvaros (Hungary)

Rapid Vienna (Austria) 0-1 Genk (Belgium)

Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 0-2 West Ham United (England)