UEFA Champions League Wrap: Real Sociedad, Zenit record first-leg victories

Real Sociedad produced a slick performance at Stade de Gerland to win 2-0 in their UEFA Champions League play-off first leg with Lyon.

The Liga side were in control throughout against their French hosts and now sit on the verge of qualifying for the group stages for the first time in nine years.

Antoine Griezmann’s acrobatic strike broke the deadlock in the first half before Haris Seferovic doubled the lead five minutes after the break.

Things got worse for Lyon as defender Milan Bisevac was sent off for two bookable offences late on, meaning that the Serbian will miss the crucial second leg through suspension.

Zenit St Petersburg were also big winners in their first-leg tie with Pacos Ferreira, the Russian side winning 4-1 away in Portugal.

Roman Shirokov scored a hat-trick for Luciano Spalletti’s side while a Matias Degra own goal gave them a fourth.

Andre Leao pulled a consolation back for the Portuguese side but progression now looks tough for them going into the second leg.

Kazakh side Shakhter Karagandy produced the surprise of the night with a 2-0 victory over Scottish champions Celtic.

Neil Lennon’s side – who reached the Round of 16 last season – had chances to take the advantage in the tie but failed to take them and suffered the consequences.

Andrei Finonchenko and Sergei Khizhnichenko gave Shakhter the victory, leaving them on the verge of becoming the first Kazakh side to qualify for the group stages of the competition.

Czech champions Viktoria Plzen also take a two-goal advantage into their second leg with Maribor after a 3-1 victory in Plzen.

Marian Cisovsky and Vladimir Darida had put the hosts two goals ahead in the opening hour before Ales Mejac pulled a goal back for the visitors. However, Michal Duris’ last-minute strike restored Plzen’s two-goal cushion.

The final game on Tuesday saw two European heavyweights go head-to-head as PSV met Milan in Eindhoven.

Milan opened the scoring through Stephan El Shaarawy, however after missed chances the visitors were punished when Tim Matavz made it 1-1 to leave the tie wide open.