Two late goals from Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale gave Udinese a 2-0 win over holders Zenit St Petersburg in the first leg of their UEFA Cup last-16 clash.
The match looked destined to end in stalemate, but Quagliarella broke the deadlock on 85 minutes when he redirected a Simone Pepe cross into an empty net.
And then, in a surprising seventh minute of injury time, Di Natale converted a penalty kick to seal the win.
That leaves the holders facing an uphill battle if they are to keep hopes alive of retaining their trophy.
At the Stade Vélodrome, Marseille beat fellow former European champions Ajax 2-1 to take a narrow lead ahead of the second leg in Amsterdam.
Benoît Cheyrou put Marseille in front with a spectacular 30-yard, left-footed effort on 19 minutes before Mamadou Niang doubled the advantage shortly after the half-hour mark when finishing from close range.
Luis Suárez got a goal back for Ajax from the penalty spot just three minutes later, but the visitors were soon on the back foot again when Gregory van der Wiel was sent off on 42 minutes for a second bookable offence.
Marseille, however, failed to extend their lead and Marco van Basten's side will now fancy their chances of turning the tie around at the Amsterdam ArenA next week.
Another former European champions, Hamburg, also failed to take maximum advantage as they were held to a 1-1 drae with 10-man Galatasaray at the HSV Arena.
Ayhan Akman gave the 2000 UEFA Cup winner a 33rd-minute lead as he hit a low shot in off the post from the edge of the area.
Hamburg equalised five minutes after the half-time through a close-range Marcell Jansen volley.
Emre Aşık was sent off for a foul on Mladen Petrić in the 53rd minute, but Galatasaray held on for a crucial draw which gives them a slight advantage ahead of the second leg in Istanbul next week.
At the Luzhniki Stadium, Vagner Love's penalty early in the second half was enough to give CSKA Moscow a 1-0 advantage over Champions League drop-outs Shakhtar Donetsk.
Elsewhere, Werder Bremen beat St Etienne 1-0, Manchester City downed Aalborg 2-0, Dynamo Kiev defeated Metalist Kharkiv 1-0, and Paris St-Germain goalless draw against Braga.
Also see:
Technorati tags:World soccer Soccer news Football news UEFA Cup
The match looked destined to end in stalemate, but Quagliarella broke the deadlock on 85 minutes when he redirected a Simone Pepe cross into an empty net.
And then, in a surprising seventh minute of injury time, Di Natale converted a penalty kick to seal the win.
That leaves the holders facing an uphill battle if they are to keep hopes alive of retaining their trophy.
At the Stade Vélodrome, Marseille beat fellow former European champions Ajax 2-1 to take a narrow lead ahead of the second leg in Amsterdam.
Benoît Cheyrou put Marseille in front with a spectacular 30-yard, left-footed effort on 19 minutes before Mamadou Niang doubled the advantage shortly after the half-hour mark when finishing from close range.
Luis Suárez got a goal back for Ajax from the penalty spot just three minutes later, but the visitors were soon on the back foot again when Gregory van der Wiel was sent off on 42 minutes for a second bookable offence.
Marseille, however, failed to extend their lead and Marco van Basten's side will now fancy their chances of turning the tie around at the Amsterdam ArenA next week.
Another former European champions, Hamburg, also failed to take maximum advantage as they were held to a 1-1 drae with 10-man Galatasaray at the HSV Arena.
Ayhan Akman gave the 2000 UEFA Cup winner a 33rd-minute lead as he hit a low shot in off the post from the edge of the area.
Hamburg equalised five minutes after the half-time through a close-range Marcell Jansen volley.
Emre Aşık was sent off for a foul on Mladen Petrić in the 53rd minute, but Galatasaray held on for a crucial draw which gives them a slight advantage ahead of the second leg in Istanbul next week.
At the Luzhniki Stadium, Vagner Love's penalty early in the second half was enough to give CSKA Moscow a 1-0 advantage over Champions League drop-outs Shakhtar Donetsk.
Elsewhere, Werder Bremen beat St Etienne 1-0, Manchester City downed Aalborg 2-0, Dynamo Kiev defeated Metalist Kharkiv 1-0, and Paris St-Germain goalless draw against Braga.
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Also see:
- UEFA Cup round-up: Milan, Spurs, Villa crash out
- UEFA Cup round-up: Double delight for Dutch clubs
- UEFA Cup round-up: Holders snatch victory; Valencia and Milan held
- Ancelotti includes Beckham in UEFA Cup squad
- UEFA Cup round-up: Wolfsburg and Hamburg claim top spots
Technorati tags:World soccer Soccer news Football news UEFA Cup
