SPORTS

PAOK fight back to beat Spartak, Salzburg cruise

PAOK fight back to beat Spartak, Salzburg cruise

Greece's PAOK Salonika came back from two goals down to beat Spartak Moscow 3-2 in their Champions League third qualifying round, first leg match on Wednesday.

Goals from Ivelin Popov and Dutch winger Quincy Promes put visitors Spartak 2-0 up inside 17 minutes but the Greek side responded quickly.

A penalty converted by Aleksander Prijovic got PAOK back in the game in the 29th minute and goals for Dimitris Limnios and Dimitris Pelkas put the home side 3-2 up by the break.

Spartak had a great chance to level the game after the break but Promes saw his 71st minute penalty saved by PAOK keeper Alexandros Paschalakis.

The winners will play Portugal's Benfica or Turkey's Fenerbahce in the play-off round for a place in the group stage.

Austria's Salzburg enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win over FYROM's Shkendija with two gals from Israeli forward Moanes Dabour.

Should they complete the job in the second leg, Salzburg will face Red Star Belgrade or Spartak Trnava in the play-off round.

Celtic were facing AEK Athens later on Wednesday. [Reuters]

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.