PARIS: Manchester United drew 1-1 away to Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, while Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 1-0 loss away to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

Joshua Zirkzee drilled in from just outside the area to give United the lead on 57 minutes in San Sebastian but Mikel Oyarzabal levelled from the spot after Bruno Fernandes was punished for a handball.

Zirkzee cut a distraught figure after missing the decisive penalty in last week`s FA Cup shootout loss to Fulham and has endured a testing first season at United, whose only remaining hope of silverware is in the Europa League.

He scored for the first time in Europe this term, unleashing a sharp low drive from 20 yards after being teed up by Alejandro Garnacho`s inviting pass.

But Ruben Amorim`s side could not hold on to their advantage as Fernandes handled at a corner, with Oyarzabal confidently converting his spot-kick.

Andre Onana made two excellent saves to keep United level as Sociedad pressed for a winner, leaving the tie evenly poised ahead of next week`s second leg.

`I felt until the penalty we had control of the game and then I think the penalty changed a little bit the momentum,` Amorim told TNT Sports.

`I felt our team in the last 30 minutes were really, really tired,` he added.

`We take this stage to Old Trafford... it`s going to be a different game, the pressure is going to be on us in that stadium and we have to be ready.

In Netherlands, Lucas Bergvall`s first-half own goal condemned Spurs to defeat, and it could have been worse for AngePostecoglou`s side were it not for two fine saves from Guglielmo Vicario.

Postecoglou said his side did not have the right mindset and was glad to leave the Netherlands with only a 1-0 deficit to overturn.

`I don`t think it`s a matter of effort or attitude. I don`t think it is going out there and not trying, but like I said we didn`t really come to grips and have the right mindset to tackle an away fixture in Europe,` Postecoglou told reporters.

ROMA SNATCH LATE WIN Later on Thursday, a stoppagetime goal earned AS Roma a 2-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao in the first leg.

Roma wasted two decent chances to take a first-half lead.

Artem Dovbyk found a way past the Bilbao defence and into the area but lost his footing as he went to strike the ball and Paulo Dybala thundered a shot off the crossbar.

Bilbao took the lead five minutes after the break when Inaki Williams headed in from close range, but Roma were soon level when Angelino`s shot went in off the post after a cut-back from Zeki Celik.

Bilbao went down to 10 men five minutes from time after Yeray Alvarez received a second booking, and Roma snatched the late winner when Eldor Shomurodov netted with a shot on the turn.

Meanwhile, Lazio snatched a late 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen, despite finishing the game with nine men.

Plzen fell behind to Lazio after 18 minutes from an Alessio Romagnoli header but the Czech side drew level after the break when the unmarked Rafiu Durosinmi headed homefrom close range.

Lazio had Nicolo Rovella sent off and Samuel Gigot also saw red in added time, but Gustav Isaksen curled a shot into the top corner in the 98th minute to give the Italian side victory.

Earlier, Rangers recorded an impressive 3-1 win away to a Fenerbahce team coached by Jose Mourinho.

Cyriel Dessers put Rangers ahead early on in Istanbul before Alexander Djiku hauled Fenerbahce level.

Vaclav Cerny restored the lead for the Scots before striking again nine minutes from time to place Rangers in firm control under interim boss Barry Ferguson.

`We were very bad everywhere,` said Mourinho. `Maybe you laugh but for me it was a good result because of the way we performed, the result could have been bigger than this one.

Elsewhere, Olympique Lyonnais also took a big stride towards the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory at Romanians FCSB.

Paulo Fonseca fought back tears as his players celebrated Nicolas Tagliafico`s opener with him, a day after the Portuguese coach was banned from the dugout until November by French football officials after an angry altercation with a referee.

Malick Fofana won the game for Lyon with two late goals after Alexandru Baluta had equalised for FCSB.

Bodo/Glimt also took a major step towards the quarters with a 3-0 win over Olympiacos and Eintracht Frankfurt secured a 2-1 win at Ajax Amsterdam.

CHELSEA EDGE COPENHAGEN In Europa Conference league on Thursday, Chelsea took one step into the quarter-finals witha 2-1 win at Copenhagen in the first leg of their last 16 tie, while Panathinaikos and Fiorentina played out a five-goal thriller.

Reece James and Enzo Fernandez netted in the second half, before Gabriel Pereira halved the deficit for the hosts, as Enzo Maresca`s side just did enough to take control of the tie in the Danish capital.

`Copenhagen are a good team, they play good football, have a skilled coach, and have many talented players,` said Maresca.

`I`m always nervous, but right now, the focus is on our next matches. The return leg will be another tough game.

In Greece, last season`s defeated finalists Fiorentina went down 3-2 to Panathinaikos.

The Greek hosts flew out of the traps, racing into a 2-0 lead inside 19 minutes courtesy of Karol Swiderski and Nemanja Maksimovic.

But within just four minutes, Fiorentina were back level after two rapid-fire strikes from Lucas Beltran and Nicolo Fagioli.

Tete restored the hosts` lead ahead of the second leg with a sweeping, left-footed finish in the 55th minute.

In Thursday`s other last-16 fixtures, Molde held on to win by the same scoreline against Legia Warsaw in Norway while La Liga club Real Betis drew 2-2 at home to Iberian neighbours Vitoria Guimaraes of Portugal.

Rapid Vienna were held 1-1 in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Borac Banja Luka and three secondhalf goals for Jagiellonia Bialystok gave the Poles a 3-0 home win over 10-man Cercle Brugge.

Swiss side Lugano went down 1-0 in Slovenia against Celje, and Pafos of Cyprus won by the same margin at home to Sweden`s Djurgarden.-Agencies