Galatasaray’s draw with Astana earns Europa League spot

Published 12/09/2015, 3:45 AM EST

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Selcuk Inan’s second-half equaliser helped Galatasaray qualify for the Europa League as they ended their Champions League Group C campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Kazakhstan team Astana on Tuesday.

The Turks spurned two good chances just before Astana took the lead in the 62nd minute when a cross found Patrick Twumasi unmarked at the far post and he beat goalkeeper Fernando Muslera with ease.

Galatasaray provided a swift response two minutes later as Lukas Podolski set up Inan and the captain fired the ball home.

Atletico Madrid finished top of the group with 13 points from six games after a 2-1 win at second-placed Benfica (10). Galatasaray were third on five points, one ahead of Astana.

(Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Tony Jimenez)

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.