Linfield advance to face Celtic after 0-0 draw with La Fiorita - 7M sport

Linfield advance to face Celtic after 0-0 draw with La Fiorita



Posted Wednesday, July 05, 2017 by Skysports.com

Linfield advance to face Celtic after 0-0 draw with La Fiorita
Jordan Stewart celebrates scoring Linfield's only goal against La Fiorita at Windsor Park in the first leg

Linfield will face Celtic in the second round of Champions League qualifying after securing a 1-0 aggregate victory over La Fiorita with a scoreless draw in San Marino on Tuesday.

Uefa have already confirmed the game, which was scheduled to be held during Belfast's marching season on July 11 or 12, will be moved to July 14 with a 5pm kick-off.

After talks with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Celtic decided not to take up their ticket allocation for the first leg and have advised their supporters not to attend.

A statement from Celtic last month said: "Following security concerns raised by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Celtic has taken part in discussions with Linfield and the PSNI over recent days. While there can be an option to reverse the fixtures if both clubs agree, during discussions Linfield made it clear that they did not wish to reverse the tie and they wanted to play their home leg first.

"In addition, as is often the case in football, Celtic's football management team wished to play our away leg first so that we could benefit from the advantage of playing the second leg at home in front of our supporters at Celtic Park for this crucial European tie.

"Following the discussions, it was agreed among the clubs and PSNI and has now been confirmed with Uefa that, should Linfield progress to the second qualifying round, Celtic's Uefa Champions League match against Linfield will take place at Windsor Park on Friday, 14 July, with a 5pm kick-off.

"No tickets will be available for Celtic supporters. The safety and security of all Celtic supporters travelling and attending matches is of paramount importance to the club."

Meanwhile, Scott Quigley's extra-time goal helped The New Saints secure a place in the Champions League second qualifying round as they secured a 3-1 win at Gibraltar's Europa FC, who had two men sent off in the space of as many second-half minutes.

The Welsh Premier League side had been trailing 2-1 from the first leg, but Scott Ruscoe's side levelled the tie on aggregate at the Estadio Algarve after 37 minutes when defender Ivan Moya diverted a free-kick from Ryan Brobbell into his own net.

TNS were still behind on away goals, but edged ahead four minutes before the break when Quigley - also on target in the first leg - turned in Aeron Edwards' pass.

The Gibraltar side eventually reduced the arrears on 53 minutes when Liam Walker converted a penalty following handball.

Just two minutes later, though, Europa had forward Kike Gomez sent off for stamping on Ryan Price with Spanish midfielder Alex Quillo then collecting two quick yellow cards from the Belgian referee to leave the Gibraltar side to play out the final half-hour of normal time with only nine men.

In the first period of extra-time, TNS went close again as substitute Adrian Cieslewicz had an overhead kick cleared off the line. The Welsh side, though, were not to be denied as, with 104 minutes on the clock, Quigley collected Mullan's pass and dispatched a low shot into the far corner to seal a second-round qualifying tie against Rijeka of Croatia.



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