Soccer

Champions League: Quickfire Silva double gives Leipzig win over Celtic

German side earned their first points of the campaign against Scottish champions

RB Leipzig's Andre Silva celebrates scoring his side's third goal during Champions League. Photograph: Jan Woitas/DPA via PA Wire
RB Leipzig's Andre Silva celebrates scoring his side's third goal during Champions League. Photograph: Jan Woitas/DPA via PA Wire
Wed Oct 05 2022 - 20:09

RB Leipzig 3 Celtic 1

RB Leipzig earned their first Champions League points this season after a quick-fire double from Andre Silva and Christopher Nkunku’s first-half strike sealed a 3-1 home win over Celtic in Group F on Wednesday.

Nkunku twice raced clear to find the net — his first attempt was ruled a fraction offside after a VAR check but the Frenchman made amends in the 27th minute, poking the ball past the advancing Joe Hart and slotting home from a tight angle.

Celtic enjoyed a spell of pressure after the disallowed goal but were unable to take the lead after being overrun on the counter-attack, with Kyogo Furuhashi twice going close to breaking the deadlock.

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The visitors got off to the perfect start in the second half, drawing level after two minutes when Furuhashi held off three Leipzig defenders before laying the ball off to Jota who scored with a composed finish.

Celtic got another reprieve from VAR when Dominik Szoboszlai's superb long-range effort was ruled out just after the hour mark but Silva capitalised on a poor pass from goalkeeper Hart seconds later to restore Leipzig's lead.

Silva calmly fired past Hart again in the 77th minute after Celtic were undone by a long diagonal pass from Nkunku, which Mohamed Simakan met with a cushioned volley to the Portuguese striker.

Leipzig are third in Group F with three points while Celtic are bottom with one. The teams meet again on Tuesday in Glasgow.