NYON: Francisco Moura’s second-half strike earned hosts Porto a 1-1 draw against 10-man Roma in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round playoff.

Zeki Celik put Roma ahead in the dying seconds of the first half before Moura equalised when his shot deflected off a defender past goalkeeper Mile Svilar in the 67th minute.

Claudio Ranieri’s Roma were dealt a further blow five minutes later when they were left with 10 men as Bryan Cristante was handed a second yellow card.

Simultaneously ten-man Galatasaray suffered a 4-1 defeat away to Dutch side Alkmaar while Twente Enschede earned a last-gasp 2-1 home win over Bodo/Glimt and Romania’s Steaua Bucharest fought back to beat Greek champions PAOK 2-1.

Earlier in the day, Turkey’s Fenerbahce beat Belgian side Anderlecht 3-0. Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce took an early lead through a close-range header from forward Dusan Tadic following a corner.

The hosts survived a scare when the referee consulted VAR about a potential penalty for handball, but it was not given and Edin Dzeko doubled their advantage before the break.

His initial strike was blocked by the Anderlecht defence before the Bosnian striker latched on to the rebound and struck a low shot into the corner of the net.

Morocco forward Youssef En-Nesyri sealed the win after the break with a fine header.

Fenerbahce, unbeaten across all competitions since mid-December, took the last playoff spot available as they finished the league phase in 24th place and qualified on goal difference.

Anderlecht, coming off consecutive defeats in the competition by Hoffenheim and Viktoria Plzen, were 10th.

Real Sociedad, who reached the last 16 of the Champions League last season, earned a 2-1 win at Danish side Midtjylland.

Midfielder Brais Mendez put the LaLiga side ahead from the penalty spot before Japan forward Takefusa Kubo added a second with a shot from outside the area into the top corner.

The Danish hosts, who return to domestic action this weekend after more than a two-month winter break, pulled a goal back before the break through Poland striker Adam Buksa from close range. The winners will face Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in last 16.

Ajax secured a 2-0 victory at Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise, forward Christian Rasmussen and defender Jorthy Mokio scoring the goals in the second half.

The Dutch side lost three consecutive games in the competition before their home win over Galatasaray in the final round of league matches.

Record 35-times Hungarian champions Ferencvaros, winners of the last six domestic league titles, beat Czech visitors Viktoria Plzen 1-0 to close in on a last-16 place.

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