UECL: Celtic suffer shock defeat, Leicester cruise

London [UK], February 18 (ANI): Norway’s Bodo/Glimt secured a result to match their astounding 6-1 defeat of Roma in the group stage as they won 3-1 at Celtic on the opening night of the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Leicester City and Marseille made a comfortable start to their ties at home and Slavia Praha triumphed away to Fenerbahce, while neighbours Sparta Praha were undone by a late goal from Partizan.
Leicester ended a five-game winless run, Wilfred Ndidi setting the tone with a finish after a smart one-two with Ademola Lookman. Patrik Carlgren then pulled off a series of saves to repel Leicester, before Vito Hammershoj-Mistrati pounced on a lapse to level moments before half-time.
Harvey Barnes quickly dashed the visitors’ raised hopes after the break, and well-worked tap-ins from Patson Daka and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sealed victory.
The remarkable rise of Bodo/Glimt continued with a fine win in Glasgow against Celtic. The visitors from the Arctic Circle went ahead with seven minutes gone through Runar Espejord and extended their lead shortly after the break when Amahl Pellegrino showed good composure from close range. Daizen Maeda’s header gave Celtic hope, but Hugo Vetlesen struck almost immediately to leave the Norwegian side in control.
Marseille defeated Qarabag 3-1. In-form Arkadiusz Milik struck twice in quick succession during the first half, tidying one away after his header had been cleared off the line and then finishing calmly after Qarabag were caught trying to play out from the back. The Azerbaijani side rallied in the second period: Filip Ozobic hit a post before Kady’s goal rewarded a neat move. Dimitri Payet’s added-time strike from fellow replacement Bamba Dieng’s center eased the tension.
Slavia Praha defeated Fenerbahce 3-2 while Partizan beat Sparta Praha 1-0. (ANI)