Partizan, Besiktas settle for 1-1 draw in Europa League play-off

Belgrade : Ricardo Jorge Pires Gomes and Tolgay Arslan scored for Partizan and Besiktas respectively as the teams played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League play-off.

Gomes brought Partizan into an early lead in the 14th minute after he turned a dangerous cross into a score for the home team with a header on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, the Turkish team struck back in the very next minute when Arslan almost entirely repeated the move of Ricardo, and beat Partizan's goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic for an equaliser.

In the second half Partizan went into the offensive. First In 51st minute Nemanja Miletic used a mistake by the Besiktas defence and shot from just over five metres, but missed the goal kept by Tolga Zengin.

Then Goran Zakaric attempted to beat the keeper with a powerful shot from a distance of some 20 meters, but also did not break the deadlock.