Tuesday, August 19, 2014

UEFA Champions League Playoff Round: Gunners Hold Black Eagles To Series-Opening Scoreless Stalemate In Istanbul

The playoff round for UEFA Champions League group-stage berths commenced with five games on Tuesday.

At Wals-Siezenheim, Austria:

Franz Schiemer (16') and Jonathan Soriano (54') delivered the goals as FC Red Bull Salzburg topped visiting Malmo FF 2-1 in the opening match of their two-game series.  Emil Forsberg kept the Swedish club's hopes alive with his goal in the 90th minute.

At Bucharest, Romania:

Alexandru Chipciu scored the only goal of the match in the 88th minute as Steaua Bucharest took their series opener with Bulgaria's PFC Ludogorets Razgrad 1-0 at home.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Arsenal held home-standing Besiktas to a series-opening 0-0 stalemate.

At Copenhagen, Denmark:

Son Heung-Min scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute as Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to upend hosts FC Copenhagen 3-2 in the opening game of their two-match series.

At Naples, Italy:

Gonzalo Higuain's equalizer in the 88th minute enabled Napoli to salvage a series-opening 1-1 home draw with Athletic Bilbao.  Iker Muniain scored for the Spanish club in the 41st minute.

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