Europa League: Celtic Blow Two-Goal Lead While Morelos Wins It for Rangers

 Jonathan Ikoné (left) completed Lille’s second-half comeback against Celtic to equalise 15 minutes from time. Photograph: Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images
Jonathan Ikoné (left) completed Lille’s second-half comeback against Celtic to equalise 15 minutes from time. Photograph: Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images
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Europa League: Celtic Blow Two-Goal Lead While Morelos Wins It for Rangers

 Jonathan Ikoné (left) completed Lille’s second-half comeback against Celtic to equalise 15 minutes from time. Photograph: Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images
Jonathan Ikoné (left) completed Lille’s second-half comeback against Celtic to equalise 15 minutes from time. Photograph: Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images

Celtic let slip a two-goal interval lead to draw 2-2 with Lille in their thrilling Europa League Group H encounter at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

Neil Lennon’s side were under the spotlight after losing to Rangers and Milan, before drawing 3-3 with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday, but they raced into a two-goal lead through Mohamed Elyounossi, who scored twice in a four-minute spell in the first half.

Scott Bain, preferred to Vasilis Barkas, saved a Jonathan David penalty five minutes before the interval and it looked like it was going to be Celtic’s night before Lille came back to dominate the second half.

Zeki Celik pulled a goal back in 67th minutes and Jonathan Ikoné levelled in the 75th minute, with Celtic hanging on for a valuable point although they will feel it should have been more.

The Parkhead side’s first goal in 28 minutes came after the Lille full-back Zeki Celik lost possession. Albian Ajeti flicked the ball to Elyounoussi and he sped towards goal and bent his shot past the helpless Mike Maignan.

Four minutes later Ajeti and Jeremie Frimpong combined and when the Hoops wing-back crossed into the box Elyounoussi swept the ball into the corner from 16 yards.

Lille had the chance to reduce the deficit when the referee Aleksandar Stavrev pointed to the spot after a challenge by Shane Duffy on David but the unconvincing spot-kick was blocked by Bain.

After Kristoffer Ajer went off injured in the 51st minute, Celtic wobbled and conceded when Yusuf Yazici’s corner from the left was flicked on by Adama Soumaoro, with the unmarked Celik prodding the ball in at the back post.

Celtic looked weary and eight minutes later, when Celik turned the ball back across the penalty area, Ikoné pounced on the loose ball with his deflected shot ending up behind Bain but Lille could not complete the comeback with a winner.

In Group D, Alfredo Morelos equalled Ally McCoist’s European goalscoring record for Rangers as the second-half substitute nodded in the only goal against Lech Poznan at Ibrox. The Colombia striker powerfully met a wonderful Borna Barisic cross in the 68th minute to take his European tally for Rangers to 21 goals.

Morelos had come off the bench six minutes earlier and quickly enhanced Rangers’ threat with the aggression they had been lacking.

The goal was enough to earn Steven Gerrard’s side an eighth straight win in all competitions and put them in a commanding position alongside Benfica in their group with both sides having six points from two matches.

In Group H’s other game, Milan eased to victory at home against Sparta Prague, with Diogo Dalot, on loan from Manchester United, adding the third in a 3-0 win which also saw goals for Brahim Díaz and Rafael Leão.

The Austrian side Wolfsberg enjoyed an away day at Feyenoord in Group K, with the midfielder Michael Liendl scoring three of his side’s goals in a 4-1 victory, including two penalties. There was another hat-trick in Group J, for Ludogorets’ Elvis Manu … who finished on the losing side as Lask held on for a 4-3 home victory despite playing the last 17 minutes with 10 men after Lukas Grgic’s dismissal.



Olympics in India a ‘Dream’ Facing Many Hurdles

A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
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Olympics in India a ‘Dream’ Facing Many Hurdles

A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)

India says it wants the 2036 Olympics in what is seen as an attempt by Narendra Modi to cement his legacy, but the country faces numerous challenges to host the biggest show on earth.

The prime minister says staging the Games in a nation where cricket is the only sport that really matters is the "dream and aspiration" of 1.4 billion people.

Experts say it is more about Modi's personal ambitions and leaving his mark on the world stage, while also sending a message about India's political and economic rise.

Modi, who is also pushing for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, will be 86 in 2036.

"Hosting the Olympics will, in a way, burnish India's credentials as a global power," said academic Ronojoy Sen, author of "Nation at Play", a history of sport in India.

"The current government wants to showcase India's rise and its place on the global high table, and hosting the Olympic Games is one way to do it."

Already the most populous nation, India is on track to become the world's third-biggest economy long before the planned Olympics.

- Olympics in 50-degree heat? -

India submitted a formal letter of intent to the International Olympic Committee in October, but has not said where it wants to hold the Games.

Local media are tipping Ahmedabad in Modi's home state of Gujarat, a semi-arid region where temperatures surge above 50 degrees Celsius (122F) in summer.

Gujarat state has already floated a company, the Gujarat Olympic Planning and Infrastructure Corporation, with a $710 million budget.

Ahmedabad has about six million people, its heart boasting a UNESCO-listed 15th-century wall which sprawls out into a rapidly growing metropolis.

The city is home to a 130,000-seater arena, the world's biggest cricket stadium, named after Modi. It staged the 2023 Cricket World Cup final.

The city is also the headquarters of the Adani Group conglomerate, headed by billionaire tycoon and Modi's close friend Gautam Adani.

Adani was the principal sponsor for the Indian team at this summer's Paris Olympics, where the country's athletes won one silver and five bronze medals.

- 'Window of opportunity' -

Despite its vast population India's record at the Olympics is poor for a country of its size, winning only 10 gold medals in its history.

Sports lawyer Nandan Kamath said hosting an Olympics was an "unprecedented window of opportunity" to strengthen Indian sport.

"I'd like to see the Olympics as a two-week-long wedding event," he said.

"A wedding is a gateway to a marriage. The work you do before the event, and all that follows, solidifies the relationship."

Outside cricket, which will be played at the Los Angeles Games in 2028, Indian strengths traditionally include hockey and wrestling.

New Delhi is reported to be pushing for the inclusion at the Olympics of Indian sports including kabaddi and kho kho -- tag team sports -- and yoga.

Retired tennis pro Manisha Malhotra, a former Olympian and now talent scout, agreed that global sporting events can boost grassroots sports but worries India might deploy a "top-down" approach.

"Big money will come in for the elite athletes, the 2036 medal hopefuls, but it will probably end at that," said Malhotra, president of the privately funded training center, the Inspire Institute of Sport.

Veteran sports journalist Sharda Ugra said India's underwhelming sports record -- apart from cricket -- was "because of its governance structure, sporting administrations and paucity of events".

"So then, is it viable for us to be building large stadiums just because we are going to be holding the Olympics?

"The answer is definitely no."

The Indian Olympic Association is split between two rival factions, with its president P.T. Usha admitting to "internal challenges" to any bid.

- 'Poor reputation' -

After Los Angeles, Brisbane will stage the 2032 Games.

The United States and Australia both have deep experience of hosting major sporting events, including previous Olympics.

India has staged World Cups for cricket and the Asian Games twice, the last time in 1982, but it has never had an event the size of an Olympics.

Many are skeptical it can successfully pull it off.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi were marked by construction delays, substandard infrastructure and accusations of corruption.

Many venues today are in a poor state.

"India will need serious repairing of its poor reputation on punctuality and cleanliness," The Indian Express daily wrote in an editorial.

"While stadium aesthetics look pretty in PowerPoint presentations and 3D printing, leaking roofs or sub-par sustainability goals in construction won't help in India making the cut."