Arsenal and Spurs both won in the Europa League while Manchester United were denied by a late Simon Kjaer goal and Rangers also drew 1-1.
Results
Olympiakos 1-3 Arsenal
Arsenal struck two late goals to beat Olympiacos and take control of their Europa League round of 16 clash – having almost proved architects of their own downfall once again.
The Gunners will defend a 3-1 lead at the Emirates Stadium next week and were good value for their win in Greece.
Martin Odegaard’s first Arsenal goal had them ahead only for another defensive calamity to gift Youssef El-Arabi the equaliser just before the hour.
Arsenal were rocked but recovered well and would hit two goals in six minutes as a Gabriel Magalhaes header and a fine strike from substitute Mohamed Elneny earned a good victory.
Mikel Arteta saw his side dumped out by Olympiacos at the round of 32 stage last season despite winning the opening leg in Greece but will be hoping lightning does not strike twice.
Arsenal were back at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium for the second time in a fortnight, having hosted the ‘home’ leg of their tie against Benfica on the outskirts of Athens due to current coronavirus travel restrictions.
The Premier League side have now won more Europa League knockout stages at the home of Olympiacos than the reigning Greek champions themselves – but they made it harder for themselves than was necessary.
Tottenham 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Harry Kane’s sensational season continued as his two goals put Tottenham on course for the Europa League quarter-finals as they beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in last-16 first-leg.
The England captain is having one of his most productive campaigns and took his tally to 26 goals in 37 appearances, while also contributing 16 assists.
A strike in either half against the Croatians justified Jose Mourinho’s decision to select his main striker, despite the north London derby being just 72 hours away, and he equalled a club record of eight European goals in a single season set by Martin Chivers twice and Martin Peters.
He will surely break that if Spurs are to go on and win the competition, which Mourinho is targeting, though his display here might give him next week’s second leg in Zagreb off.
Spurs still have work to do in the Croatian capital, but the result here makes their task easier and the last eight is looming.
Manchester United 1-1 Milan
Teenage substitute Amad Diallo opened his Manchester United account in style but Simon Kjaer’s stoppage-time header denied Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men victory against AC Milan in the Europa League.
The eagerly-anticipated last-16 clash between these European heavyweights produced drama on Thursday night and set-up an interesting return fixture at San Siro next week.
Half-time substitute Diallo’s superb, improvised header looked to have secured a hard-fought first-leg win at Old Trafford, only for Kjaer’s last-gasp header to seal Milan a deserved 1-1 draw.