Soccer: Tihinen keeps Anderlecht hopes alive

FINN Hanu Tihinen made up for a glaring miss in the first half with a 70th-minute headed goal to give Anderlecht a 1-0 win over Olympique Lyon and keep their Champions League hopes alive in Celtic’s Group A last night.

Anderlecht, who started bottom of the group, joined Lyon and Martin O’Neill’s side on seven points with one game left.The Germans are bottom with six points.

Midfielder Tihinen side-footed over the bar from less than a yard when it was easier to score from Croatia striker Ivica Mornar’s low cross in the 35th minute.

In Group C, Monaco, reduced to nine men, reached the last 16 after a 1-1 draw against PSV Eindhoven.

PSV, whose qualification hopes are still alive thanks to their 85th-minute equaliser, also had a player sent off by Croatian referee Zlejko Siric early in the second period.

Fernando Morientes scored with a fine header to put Monaco ahead after 34 minutes.

Substitute Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink equalised from a free kick shortly after Monaco’s Andreas Zikos was sent off, apparently for picking up the ball because a team mate was injured.

Monaco captain Ludovic Giuly was sent off in the 88th minute for arguing.

Monaco have 10 points from five games, their only defeat being at Deportivo Coruna who were then handed a record 8-3 thrashing in the return leg.

PSV, who had Theo Lucius sent off in the 50th minute, must beat Deportivo by better than 2-0 to become the other team to qualify from Group C.

Deportivo took a step closer to the last 16 of the competition with a comfortable 3-0 win over AEK Athens.

A 25-metre thunderbolt from defender Hector midway through the first half, a Juan Carlos Valeron strike at the start of the second and a simple finish from Albert Luque on 20 minutes from time helped erase the memory of the thrashing by the French side earlier this month.

In Group D, Real Sociedad move closer to the second phase after a 2-2 draw which ended Olympiacos’s hopes.

The Spanish opened the scoring on 19 minutes through Igor Gabilondo. However, the Greeks responded with goals from Ieroklis Stoltidis and Nery Alberto Castillo. But Sociedad responded quickly as Gabriel Schurrer volleyed a cross past Katergiannakis.

The Spanish side will be through unless Galatasaray SK beat Juventus FC next Tuesday. Even if that happens they only need to draw with the Turkish visitors in their final game.