Dutch clubs Ajax and FC Twente picked up away wins to give themselves a good chance of reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Cup yesterday.
Ajax, a four-time European champion and the 1992 UEFA Cup winner, won the first leg of its round-of-32 match 1-0 at Fiorentina and FC Twente won 1-0 at Marseille.
Two-time champion Tottenham was on the verge of elimination after a 2-0 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk, while Manchester City twice let slip a lead to draw 2-2 at FC Copenhagen. Udinese drew 2-2 at Lech Poznan.
Sweden midfielder Kennedy Bakircioglu scored Ajax’s only goal in Italy in the 60th minute.
Since losing its first group match in the tournament, Ajax has three wins and a draw in its past four European matches. The Amsterdam club was in Europe’s second-tier club competition after failing to qualify for the more prestigious Champions League.
FC Twente dropped into the UEFA Cup following its elimination from the Champions League qualifying rounds and, with former England manager Steve McClaren in charge, looks likely to make it through to the last 16 after Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic bundled the ball over the line from close range in the 23rd.
The qualifiers will be decided with the second legs on Feb. 26.
Tottenham, which won the last of its UEFA Cup titles in 1984, looked to be holding out for a scoreless draw in Ukraine until the 79th, when goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes added another high-profile error to his lengthy list of mistakes this season.
Gomes rushed out to gather a free kick but misjudged the flight of the ball to let substitute Yevgen Seleznov head in with his first touch. Jadson made it 2-0 with two minutes left after the visiting defense allowed him to exchange passes, run along the edge of the area and shoot low past Gomes.
“The last 15 minutes have cost us,” Tottenham defender Michael Dawson said. “It’s going to be an uphill task but we believe we can do it. We’ll be back at home and we know how good we are at home.”
But Spurs may struggle to field a stronger lineup than the weakened side it took to Ukraine. The north London club, which was fighting relegation from the Premier League, was set to play five matches in 13 days starting on Monday – including the English League Cup final against Manchester United on March 1.
Manchester City had been winning 2-1 in injury time until debut-making substitute Martin Vingaard scored with a header to earn the home side a draw.
Nedum Onuoha put City 1-0 ahead in the 29th when goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen fumbled his shot over the line but Ailton Almeida made it 1-1 in the 56th. City got its second away goal – which count double if the teams finish level over two matches – when Stephen Ireland scored midway through the second half from outside the area.
Udinese let an even bigger lead slip than City. The Italian club was 2-0 up when Manuel Arboleda added an own goal to Fabio Quagliarella’s 50th-minute opener, but Hernan Rengifo and Arboleda scored in the last nine minutes to earn the Polish team a draw.