Celtic and Ajax progress in Champions League

Football Soccer Britain - Celtic v Astana - UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round Second Leg - Celtic Park - 3/8/16 Celtic's Moussa Dembele is fouled for a penalty that he scores for their second goal Action Images via Reuters / Russell Cheyne Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

LONDON (Reuters) - Former European Cup winners Celtic and Ajax Amsterdam safely negotiated tricky Champions League third-round qualifying ties on Wednesday to move one step away from the lucrative group stage.

Celtic needed a stoppage-time penalty from French striker Moussa Dembele to beat Kazakh side FC Astana 2-1 and win 3-2 on aggregate. Leigh Griffiths also scored from a spot-kick in the first half for the Scottish champions before Agim Ibraimi equalised.

Four-times European Cup winners Ajax beat Greek side PAOK Salonika 2-1 away and 3-2 on aggregate.

French team Monaco will also be in Friday's draw for the playoff round after beating Turkey's Fenerbahce 3-1 to seal a 4-3 aggregate victory.

(Reporting by Neil Robinson, editing by Ed Osmond)