The hosts took the lead in the 10th minute through Ivelin Popov's free-kick before Nigel Reo-Coker levelled on the stroke of half-time.

Cedric Cambon and Mihail Venkov were then sent off before Gareth Barry scored from the penalty spot and Bulgarian Stiliyan Petrov sealed the win late on.

Ajax are on course for the group stages after cruising to a 4-1 win at Serbian side Borac.

Serbia international Miralem Sulejmani got things going with a goal after 11 minutes and Luis Suarez doubled the advantage 10 minutes before the break.

Dragan Milovanovic pulled a goal back for the hosts, but Klaas Jan Huntelaar chipped in with a late double to put the Amsterdammers out of sight.

Benfica will still fancy their chances of progressing to the group stage despite losing 3-2 away to Napoli.

The visitors went ahead through David Suazo, but found themselve behind just three minutes later with Luigi Vitale and German Denis on target.

Napoli opened up a two-goal buffer through Christian Maggio, but Benfica got an important second away goal when Luisao netted on the hour.

Darren Bent lifted the gloom around White Hart Lane with the winner in a 2-1 win over Wisla Krakow.

Bent headed home with 17 minutes remaining, the striker's third in as many matches, to earn Spurs their first victory during a frustrating start to the campaign.

Even that only slightly dampened the spirits of the boisterous away support, whose side lost to Barcelona to get knocked out of the Champions League but now require a 1-0 win in a fortnight to reach the group stages of Europe's second-tier competition.

Wisla's fans were silenced for just a minute during the first half after David Bentley's opener, then Tomas Jirsak levelled to open up the tie.

Everton twice had to fight back to grab a 2-2 draw against Belgian champions Standard Liege.

Liege, who will now fancy their chances of dumping the Merseysiders out of the competition, were ahead early on when Dieumerci Mbokani netted close in after Everton were exposed on the right.

Ayegbeni Yakubu equalised before Joseph Yobo's own goal put the Belgians ahead again, only for Segundo Castillo to equalise with a fine 25-yarder.

Dinamo Zagreb and Sparta Prague drew 0-0 in the Croatian capital.

Libor Sionko scored a 95th-minute winner as FC Copenhagen claimed a 2-1 win over FC Moscow in the Russian capital.

Morten Nordstrand won and converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time before the home side looked to have salvaged a draw when Alexander Samedov struck in the 92nd minute.

Mario Gomez struck a late brace to help Stuttgart edge Chernomorets 2-1 in Bulgaria after Kostadin Dyakov had given the hosts a first-half lead.

There were some notable surprise results with Feyenoord and Deportivo La Coruna both falling to defeats while Bundesliga leager Hamburg were held to a goalless draw at home to unheralded Romanian club Unirea Urziceni.

Feyenoord's place looks the most vulnerable after they lost 1-0 at home to Kalmar.

Viktor Elm scored the only goal of the game 19 minutes from time to give Kalmar, who currently lead the Swedish league, the upper hand.

Depor, meanwhile, will have their work cut out when they return to the Riazor in a fortnight's time following a 2-0 loss at Brann Bergen.

Olafur Orn Bjarnason (25) and a Jan Gunnar Solli penalty (39) sealed the win for the Norwegians.

Hamburg have enjoyed a stellar start to the season to lead the Bundesliga, but they will travel to Romania on level terms after failing to break down a Unirea Urziceni who themselves lead their local league.

Vagner Love struck twice in the last 10 minutes as CSKA Moscow came from behind to record a 2-1 away win over Slaven Koprivnica.

The Croatian side had taken a 43rd-minute lead through Mario Juric and looked on course for a memorable win until Love equalised nine minutes from time.

And the Brazil striker broke the home side's hearts when he netted from the penalty spot a minute from time to put CSKA in the driving seat.

English Premier League duo Manchester City and Portsmouth both recorded wins.

City made hard work of their away tie with Omonia and were behind after 49 minutes when Klodian Duro scored.

It was another Brazil striker who came to City's aid with Jo scoring on the hour mark before ensuring the win 18 minutes from time.

Portsmouth began their maiden European advanture with a comfortable 2-0 win against Guimaraes.

Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe scoreD the goals either side of half-time, although the latter could have added to his tally after seeing a penalty saved.

Fajardo also missed from the spot for the away side, blasting over the crossbar.

St Etienne are on course to reach the group stage after they won 2-1 away to Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Dimitri Payet and Pascal Feindouno were both on target for the French side before Maaran Lala scored two minutes from time to give the home team some hope in the tie.

Spartak Moscow, Nancy and Wolfsburg will all take slender leads into their second-leg ties after they each completed 1-0 wins against Ostrava, Motherwell and Rapid Bucharest respectively.

Czech Republic champions Slavia Prague were held to a goalless draw at home to Vaslui.

Milan Baros struck twice as Galatasaray edged a see-sawing encounter with 10-man Bellinzona 4-3.

The Swiss club went ahead through Mauro Lustrinelli after 32 minutes, but Harry Kewell (39) ensured Gala went into the break level.

Bellinzona went ahead again two minutes after the re-start, through Gurkan Sermeter, but the lead lasted just five minutes as Baros scored his first of the game.

The home side suffered a further blow on the hour mark when Shkelzen Gashi was red carded and the game looked lost when Baros completed his double nine minutes from time.

But the game breathed further life in injury time with Bellinzona defender Iacopo La Rocca seemingly scoring the equaliser, only for Lincoln to score a late winner.

Paris St Germain kicked off their campaign with a last-gasp 2-1 win at Kayserispor.

Mateja Kezman gave the Parisians a fifth minute lead and they looked on course for victory until Delio Toledo scored three minutes from full-time.

Peguy Luyindula came to PSG's aid though two minutes later with a winner.

Seydou Doumbia scored an equaliser three minutes from time as Young Boys drew 2-2 at home to Club Brugge, while Austria Vienna defender Franz Schiemer bagged a brace either side of Hernan Rengifo's equaliser to give his side a 2-1 win over Lech Poznan.

NEC Nijmegen, Racing Santander and Besiktas each secured 1-0 wins against Dinamo Bucharest, Honka Espoo and Metalist Kharkiv respectively.

AC Milan secured their first win of the season and eased the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti with a 3-1 triumph over FC Zurich.

Ancelotti has seen his side lose their opening two Serie A matches, prompting talk he may be on his way out of the San Siro.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani poured cold water on that speculation when, following a two-hour meeting with Ancelotti and the club board on Monday, he revealed the coach's position was not in question.

That uncertainty perhaps contributed to a slow start by the Rossoneri on Thursday night and they had to wait until first-half stoppage time to break the deadlock when Marek Jankulovski struck.

Alexandre Pato eased any lingering nerves with a second 12 minutes after the re-start before substitute Marco Boriello gave Milan a commanding advantage despite Dusan Djuric scoring an away goal for the Swiss side.

Sampdoria smashed five past Kaunas to all but seal their place in the group stage.

The Lithuanians had knock last year's finalists, Rangers, out of the tournament in the previous round, but never got going against Samp who saw Emiliano Bonazzoli and Antonio Cassano score doubles. Bruno Fornaroli rounded out the rout in stoppage time.

Sevilla, who have won this competition twice in the past three years, also look likely to go through after they secured a 2-0 win against Salzburg. Diego Capel got the ball rolling after six minutes although their second did not arrive until second-half stoppage-time through Adriano.

Udinese hold the upper hand in their difficult looking tie with Borussia Dortmund after securing a 2-0 away win with first-half goals from Antonio Floro Flores and Gokhan Inler.

Rennes came from a goal behind to secure a 2-1 home win over FC Twente, who were knocked out of the Champions League qualification stage by Arsenal.

Rosenborg edged their Scandinavian rivals Brondby 2-1.