Europa League round-up: Spurs, Celtic and Dortmund all have to settle for a point

Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic all drew in the second round of games in the Europa League on Thursday night, while Borussia Dortmund also had to settle for a point:

Late blow for Tottenham

Tottenham came within nine minutes of beating last season’s Champions League quarter-finalists Monaco on a rainy night in the principality before Stephan El Shaarawy scored to secure a 1-1 draw for the hosts. Spurs opened the scoring 10 minutes prior to the interval. Nacer Chadli set up Dele Alli, who was denied by Danijel Subasic. However, the ball ricocheted kindly into the path of Erik Lamela, who was left with a simple tap-in. Nevertheless, Monaco hit back in the 81st minute when Nabil Dirar crossed from the right for fellow substitute El Shaarawy, who got up above Kieran Trippier to head in. The point leaves Tottenham top of Group J ahead of Qarabag, who beat Anderlecht 1-0 in Azerbaijan. “We’re disappointed and it’s two points lost,” said Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino. “We could have been more clinical. But I’m happy with the performance and the effort.”

Turks peg Celtic back

After holding Ajax to a 2-2 draw in Amsterdam in their opening game in Group A, Celtic drew by the same scoreline at home to Fenerbahce in Glasgow. However, it was a disappointing outcome after the Scottish champions went two goals up inside 32 minutes through Leigh Griffiths and Kris Commons. A shocking Efe Ambrose header allowed Fernandao in to pull one back for Fenerbahce and the Brazilian, the leading scorer in Turkey last season with Bursaspor, levelled just after the break. “We created two very nice goals and had good control over them, and of course we made a stupid mistake. Then we started the second half poorly and they make it 2-2 from a set-play,” Celtic manager Ronny Deila said. Celtic’s next game is in Norway against Molde, who top the section after drawing 1-1 with Ajax.