LONDON — Former European champion Celtic will take three away goals into the return leg of its Champions League second round qualifier against Irish League champion Cliftonville after a comfortable 3-0 win Wednesday. Mikael Lustig and Georgios Samaras were on target in the first half for the Scottish champion while a late goal from James Forrest added the finishing touches to a dominant performance. Norway's Molde, Polish side Legia Warsaw and Israeli champion Maccabi Tel Aviv also recorded away wins in their first leg ties, while Sweden's Elfsborg Boras ran in seven goals to effectively book their place in the next round. Celtic, which had lost four games and conceded 12 goals in an unsuccessful pre-season tour of Germany, took its part-time opponent seriously by naming a strong side. Lustig headed it ahead after 25 minutes and Samaras doubled the advantage with a quick turn and powerful shot six minutes later. Forrest rounded off the scoring with a right-footed effort that beat Cliftonville keeper Conor Devlin at his near post after 84 minutes. Norwegian champions Molde won 1-0 away at Sligo Rovers thanks to a curling effort from the edge of the penalty area by Daniel Chima, while Elfsborg scored six second-half goals to complete a 7-1 win over Daugava Daugavpils from Latvia. Barak Itzhaki and Gal Alberman were on target as Maccabi Tel Aviv won 2-0 at Hungarian side Gyor ETO, while Michal Kucharczyk, Marek Saganowski and Jakub Kosecki were the scorers for Legia Warsaw who won 3-1 at Welsh side The New Saints. Elsewhere, Serbia's Partizan Belgrade drew 1-1 at Armenian side Shirak Gyumri and Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava beat Bulgarian team Ludogorets 2-1. Azerbaijan's Neftchi Baku drew 0-0 with Albania's Skenderbeu and HJK Helsinki's clash with Kalju Nomme was also goalless. Zambia, Zimbabwe in Cosafa Cup final Host Zambia pipped South Africa 5-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw Wednesday to reach the Cosafa Cup final. And the decider in mining city Ndola this weekend will be a repeat of the last one in 2009 after title-holder Zimbabwe edged Lesotho 2-1 earlier. Zambia converted all five mandatory shootout kicks with the decisive penalty netted by captain and center-back Bronson Chama. Alex Ngonga, Bornwell Mwape, teenager Moses Phiri and Kabaso Chongo were the other scorers for the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets). Thulani Hlatshwayo, Lebogang Manyama and Mzikayise Mashaba scored for Bafana Bafana (The Boys) and Lerato Chabangu had his effort parried by Danny Munyau. Zimbabwe continued its dominance over Lesotho in the first half of the Ndola double-header by coming from behind to win through a Tendai Ndoro brace. Lesotho was ahead when Notlalepula Mofolo swept in a low cross from Thapelo Tale after Zimbabwe failed to cut off a through pass. Ndoro, who made his international debut last weekend, leveled on 15 minutes by controlling a long throw-in and firing past Phasumane Kholuoe. The striker struck again 10 minutes later when he connected with an Eric Chipeta cross and the ball flew wide of the goalkeeper and into the net.
Lehlomela Ramabele could have taken the match to extra time when he had only Maxwell Nyamupangedengu to beat three minutes from time, but blazed wide. South Africa and Lesotho play for third place Saturday in the curtain-raiser to the final. Reds keep tight grip on striker Suarez Liverpool's star striker Luis Suarez is not for sale, manager Brendan Rodgers said Thursday, after the club reportedly turned down a £30 million ($45 million) offer from Arsenal. Suarez, 26, has three years left on his contract with Liverpool, and the controversial Uruguayan will spend the first six games of the next season on the bench for biting. Nonetheless, Arsenal and Real Madrid are believed to have made bids for the striker, whose floor price is set at £40 million by Liverpool. “We had an offer that came to the club, but it was nowhere near the value and worth of what we feel that Luis brings,” Rodgers told reporters, without confirming who made the deal. “There's been a lot of speculation over the summer with regard to Luis moving to all different clubs. But in this moment in time, he's very much a Liverpool player,” Rodgers said in the Indonesian capital Jakarta ahead of a weekend friendly. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, also in Jakarta for a friendly last week that ended in a 7-0 victory for his team, was tight-lipped when asked about a bid for Suarez, but said he hoped “to be in a position where we can answer this question.” Last month Suarez, who was banned for racist abuse in 2011, admitted it would be difficult to turn down an offer from Spanish giant Real Madrid. — Agencies
