LONDON: Former European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade were held to a 1-1 home draw by Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie after they were reduced to 10 men.

PSV Eindhoven, the 1988 winners, closed in on the playoff round with a 3-0 home rout of Danish side Midtjylland and 2004 runners-up Monaco won 2-0 at Sparta Prague.

A last-gasp goal by Steven Davis kept Scottish champions Rangers in contention to advance although they suffered a 2-1 reverse at Swedish side Malmo, who took a two-goal lead through Soren Rieks and Serbian striker Veljko Birmancevic.

Sheriff took the lead out of the blue in Belgrade as Frank Castaneda curled in a sublime free kick before Frenchman Lois Diony equalised on the stroke of halftime after he took advantage of some poor defending.

Both sides missed several chances to snatch a winner after Red Star, who won Europe’s premier club competition in 1991, had midfielder Guelor Kanga sent off in the 57th minute for a second yellow card.

“Sheriff are a team full of speed and talent,” Red Star coach Dejan Stankovic told Arenasport television after a frustrating evening for the Serbian champions. “Having fallen behind, we managed to equalise and create some chances after we were reduced to 10 men. Its not over yet, we can pull it off in the return leg.”

With the away goals rule no longer in effect, Stankovic will rely on his misfiring side to show more bite in Moldova after creating few chances against a rugged Sheriff defence.

An impressive first half saw PSV take a 19th-minute lead against Midtjylland as 19-year-old English prospect Noni Madueke unleashed a superb shot from 20 metres into the top corner.

Germany midfielder Mario Goetze made it 2-0 in the 29th with a heavily deflected shot and Cody Gakpo added the third three minutes later with a simple tap-in from two metres after a flowing move.

RACIST ABUSE

A dominant Monaco forced Sparta into submission as midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni gave them the lead with a thumping header before Kevin Volland drilled a powerful shot into the roof of the net.

Monaco coach Niko Kovac said he was “disgusted” by the racist remarks Tchouameni received in Prague.

“We are all very sad and disgusted that it continues in the 21st century,” Monaco coach Niko Kovac said. “A football field is part of the world. There can be those type of attitudes which have to be stopped. I hope it doesn’t happen again. We won the game and we also won against racism.”

Tchouameni and his teammates ran over to Kovac and UEFA officials, including referee Michael Oliver, to complain about monkey chants from the crowd in the Czech capital after he scored in the 37th minute.

According to French broadcaster Canal+, Englishman Oliver followed UEFA’s protocol for such an incident, as the game was held up for three minutes.

A message played out on the public address system and posted on the Letna Stadium screen warning that any further racist abuse would lead to the game being halted.

Rangers were rattled by two quickfire goals as Birmancevic set up the opener for Rieks in the 47th minute and then rifled in a sumptuous volley two minutes later before Davis kept Rangers’ hopes alive with the last kick of the game.

“I’m disappointed with the result and the goals we conceded but that was a big moment at the very end of the game, and it sets it up for next week,” Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said.

Elsewhere, Shakhtar Donetsk came from behind to earn a 2-1 win at Belgian side Genk and a stoppage-time goal from Vincent Sierro gave Young Boys a 1-1 draw at Romanians Cluj who took a third-minute lead through Cristian Manea.

Olympiakos Piraeus also left themselves with work to do following a 1-1 home draw with Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2021