Betis draw, Real Sociedad win in Europa League

MADRID - Real Betis and Bayern Leverkusen drew 1-1 on Thursday night in a match between the top two sides in UEFA Europa League Group G.

The Spanish outfit took the lead as Borja Iglesias slotted home from the penalty spot with just 15 minutes to go.

However, the Germans drew level just seven minutes later when Robert Andrich's shot from outside of the penalty area took a slight deflection to leave Betis keeper Claudio Bravo wrong-footed.

Both sides had plenty of chances to win the game in entertaining 90 minutes, but Bravo and Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky were on their toes throughout the game, with Bravo's 94th minute save from Moussa Diaby perhaps the pick of the bunch.

The draw leaves both teams with seven points from their opening three group games, four more than group rivals Celtic and seven more than Ferencvaros.

Real Sociedad took a big step towards the knockout stage of the tournament with a 1-0 win away to Austrian side Sturm Graz, with striker Alexander Isak scoring the only goal of the game in the 69th minute.