Late Goals Hand Shakhtar Advantage Over Spurs

Jadson swung a freekick into the box and fellow Brazilian Gomes was beaten to the ball by Seleznov who headed in.

Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk left twice UEFA Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur staring at an exit from the competition after netting late goals for a 2-0 victory in their first knockout round first leg tie on Thursday.

Shakhtar, playing their first competitve match since early December, ended stubborn resistance from a makeshift Spurs side in the final 12 minutes at a freezing Olympiyskiy Stadium.

A gaffe from Tottenham's goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes handed Shakhtar the lead after 78 minutes with substitute Yevgen Seleznov scoring just seconds after coming on.

Jadson swung a freekick into the box and fellow Brazilian Gomes was beaten to the ball by Seleznov who headed in.

Gomes, who appeared not to be touched by any player, fell to the ground clutching his head and was given treatment while a chorus of boos rang out from the home fans.

Shakhtar left Spurs with an uphill battle for next week's return at White Hart Lane by adding a second goal two minutes from time. Jadson cut in from the right and played a one-two before creating space for a shot that comfortably beat Gomes.

Tottenham face a Premier League clash at Hull City on Monday in a battle to avoid relegation and a League Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley three days after the return leg but defender Michael Dawson said they were still in the tie.

"The last 15 minutes have cost us... we had coped well until then and we are disappointed to go home with a two-goal deficit," Dawson told Chennel Five television.

"It's going to be an uphill task but we still think we can do it. We know how good we are at home and we will have to take the game to them."

NEAT MOVE

Swedish midfielder Kennedy Bakircioglu's goal on the hour secured Ajax Aamsterdam, the 1992 UEFA Cup winners and four times European champions, a 1-0 win over Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence.

Bakircioglu finished off a neat move in the penalty area to leave Fiorentina, semi-finalists last season, a tough task in the second leg.

Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli told LA7 television: "We had chances but we were not on form in front of goal. I'm convinced that we can win (at Ajax)."

Alberto Gilardino had a great chance to equalise midway through the second half but the ball got stuck under his feet when he was free just eight metres out.

Twente Enschede, second in the Dutch championship, continued their good run of form under manager Steve McClaren with a surprise 1-0 win over Olympique Marseille at Stade Velodrome.

Austrian international Marko Arnautovic hit the only goal after 22 minutes, bundling in Blaise Nkufo's left-wing cross.

Substitute Martin Vingaard headed an injury-time equaliser to earn FC Copenhagen a 2-2 draw with Manchester City at a snowy Parken stadium in the Danish capital.

City had twice led with their first goal on the half-hour coming after Copenhagen keeper Jesper Christiansen allowed a tame shot from Nedum Onuoha to squirm under his hands.

Brazilian Ailton Almeida equalised with a powerful header from a corner but the Danes were level for just five minutes before Stephen Ireland met a Shaun Wright Phillips cross with a crisp volley at the near post.

Lech Poznan staged a fine comeback from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Udinese, the Polish side scoring twice in a three-minute spell in the final 10 minutes.

The Italians looked to be heading home with a two-goal cushion after Fabio Quagliarella headed the opener five minutes after the break and then defender Manuel Arboleda deflected a shot past his own keeper.

Peruvian striker Hernan Rengifo was left unmarked to start the comeback after 81 minutes before Arboleda headed in to make it 2-2.

The final will be staged in Istanbul on May 20.

UEFA Cup last 32, first-leg collated RESULTS on Thursday.

At Miejski, Poznan

Lech Poznan 2 Udinese 2

Scorers:

Lech Poznan: Hernan Rengifo 81, Manuel Arboleda 84

Udinese: Fabio Quagliarella 50, Manuel Arboleda 55 own goal

Referee: Anton Genov (Bulgaria)

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At Olympiyskiy stadium, Donetsk

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0

Scorers: Yevgen Seleznov 79, Jadson 88

Referee: Thomas Einwaller (Austria)

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At Parken Stadium, Copenhagen

FC Copenhagen 2 Manchester City 2

Scorers:

FC Copenhagen: Ailton Almeida 56, Martin Vingaard 90+1

Manchester City: Nedum Onuoha 29, Stephen Ireland 61

Referee: Pavel Kralovec

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At Artemio Franchi stadium, Florence

Fiorentina 0 Ajax Amsterdam 1

Scorer: Kennedy Bakircioglu 60

Referee: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (Spain)

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At Stade Velodrome, Marseille

Olympique Marseille 0 Twente Enschede 1

Scorer: Marko Arnautovic 22

Referee: Stanislav Sukhina (Russia)

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Played on Wednesday

At Braga

Braga 3 Standard Liege 0

Scorers: Renteria 17, Andre Leone 27, Luis Aguiar 84

Referee: Costas Kapitanis (Cyprus)

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At Aalborg

AaB Aalborg 3 Deportivo Coruna 0

Scorers: Anders Due 53, 71, Michael Jakobsen 90 penalty

Referee: Nikolay Ivanov (Russia)

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At Luigi Ferraris stadium, Genoa

Sampdoria 0 Metalist Kharkiv 1

Scorer: Denys Oliynyk 45+3

Referee: Pavel Cristian Balaj (Romania)

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At Chaban-Delmas stadium

Girondins Bordeaux 0 Galatasaray 0

Referee: Claudio Circhetta (Switzerland)

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At Parc des Princes

Paris St Germain 2 VfL Wolfsburg 0

Scorer: Guillaume Hoarau 80, 85

Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

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At Nijmegen, Netherlands

NEC Nijmegen 0 Hamburg SV 3

Scorers: Piotr Trochowski 41, Alex Silva 45, Ivica Olic 75

Referee: Darko Ceferin (Slovenia)

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At Weserstadion

Werder Bremen 1 AC Milan 1

Scorers:

Werder Bremen: Diego 84

AC Milan: Filippo Inzaghi 36

Referee: Mike Dean (England)

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At Villa Park, Birmingham

Aston Villa 1 CSKA Moscow 1

Scorers:

Aston Villa: John Carew 69

CSKA Moscow: Vagner Love 14

Referee: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark)

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At Karaiskakis stadium, Athens

Olympiakos Piraeus 1 St Etienne 3

Scorers:

Olympiakos Piraeus: Predrag Djordjevic 64 penalty

St Etienne: Ilan 12, Geoffrey Dernis 43, Bafetimbi Gomis 90+1

Referee: Lucilio Cardoso Batista (Portugal)

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At Petrovsky, St Petersburg

Scorers:

Zenit St Petersburg: Szabolcs Huszti 2,

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk 45+3

VfB Stuttgart: Mario Gomez 15

Halftime: 2-1

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)

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At Valeri Lobanovskiy stadium, Kiev

Dynamo Kiev 1 Valencia 1

Scorers:

Dynamo Kiev: Raul Albiol 63 own goal

Valencia: David Silva 8

Referee: Serge Gumienny (Belgium)

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