Slavia Prague played out a 3-3 away draw at Feyenoord in Thursday’s Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg fixture, with Yira Sor, Peter Olayinka and Ibrahim Traore all finding the net for the Czech First League outfit.
Both teams went into the game full of confidence having stayed unbeaten in their last two matches in all competitions.
Nevertheless, it was the Eredivisie side that took the lead after ten minutes. Luis Sinisterra collected the ball on the edge of the area from Reiss Nelson before unleashing a stunning effort past goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.
That goal was a reality check for the visitors who almost levelled matters five minutes later, but goalkeeper Ofir Marciano made a good save to deny Nigeria’s Sor.
Four minutes before the half-time break, Olayinka drew the Red and Whites back to level terms - reacting to a rebounded effort and fired it into the back of the net.
Former Nigeria youth international Sor put Slavia Prague ahead in the 67th minute after latching onto a through ball from Ivan Schranz.
That lead was short-lived and five minutes later Marcos Senesi made no mistake from point-blank range thanks to an assist from Nigeria’s Cyriel Dessers.
The Club on the Meuse thought they had completed a turnaround in the 74th minute when Orkun Kokcu put them in front again.
But a last-gasp leveller from Cote d’Ivoire international Ibrahim Traore gave Jindrich Trpisovsky’s team something to cheer about.
The reverse fixture takes place on April 14 a the Sinobo Stadium with the winners on aggregate qualifying for the last four.
At the Stade Velodrome, Morocco international Omar El Kaddouri got a goal for PAOK FC yet the Greek side bowed 2-1 to Olympique Marseille.
An impressive first half saw the French team take a two-goal lead through Gerson and Dimitri Payet.
Three minutes into the second half, the visitors pulled one goal back courtesy of El Kaddouri who converted an assist from Andrija Zivkovic.
Although Gerson was sent off for a second caution, the Double-Headed Eagle of the North’s effort to head home with a draw proved futile.
Elsewhere, Kelechi Iheanacho was on parade for 67 minutes before making way for Ademola Lookman as Leicester City got a 0-0 draw with PSV Eindhoven at the King Power Stadium.