Roman Pavlyuchenko's late goal gave Tottenham a Champions League lifeline as they lost 3-2 to Young Boys in the qualifying play-off first leg.

Harry Redknapp's side made a nightmare start when Senad Lulic, Henri Bienvenu and Xavier Hochstrasser had the hosts 3-0 up after just 29 minutes in the Stade de Suisse.

But Sebastien Bassong's header three minutes before the interval and Pavlyuchenko's rasping drive on 83 gave Tottenham hope ahead of next Wednesday's second leg at White Hart Lane.

The home side made a bright start and hit the post with just 90 seconds on the clock when Lulic rifled a low drive against Heurelho Gomes' post.

But just two minutes later the same player was celebrating when the ball fell kindly to him in the box and he drilled a low, left-footed shot beyond the Brazilian keeper from 15 yards.

And it was 2-0 aftter 13 minutes when Bienvenu showed tremendous pace to burst past Michael Dawson and then produce a deadly finish by sidefooting past Gomes from just inside the area.

Spurs looked shellshocked and they fell further behind after 29 minutes when Hochstrasser latched onto a slide-rule pass that caught Bassong flat-footed and he blasted past Gomes.

Redknapp reacted by bringing on Tom Huddlestone in place of Benoit Assou-Ekotto and they found a route back into the tie on 42 minutes when Bassong rose well to power in Gareth Bale's outswinging left-wing corner.

Tottenham improved after the break with Pavlyuchenko going close with a couple of efforts.

But the better chances fell to Young Boys who could and should have added to their lead with Bienvenu on a couple of occasions and Francois Affolter missing gilt-edged chances.

And they were made to pay when Pavlyuchenko arrowed a powerful drive into the roof of the net with seven minutes left to gift

Late goal denies Ajax, Zenit triumph

Dutch giants Ajax were held 1-1 by Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying play-off in Ukraine on Tuesday night.

The four-time European champions took the lead in the 57th minute, a minute after Dynamo were reduced to 10 men.

Denys Garmash was ordered off for a second bookable offence, a foul on Jan Vertonghen.

And Ajax made them pay when Demy de Zeeuw's free-kick picked out Vertonghen who headed home, only to let in an equaliser nine minutes later when Oleh Gusev fired home.

Russian league leaders Zenit St Petersburg will carry a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their play-off against French side Auxerre, thanks to Aleksandr Kerzhakov's header in the third minute.

Steffen Iversen and Markus Henriksen scored for Rosenborg as they beat FC Copenhagen 2-1. The Danes pinched a late consolation through Jesper Gronkjaer to give themselves hope ahead of the second leg, when they will have home advantage.

Slovakian side Zilina put themselves into a strong position to qualify for the group stages for the first time in their history as they seized a 2-0 lead against Sparta Prague.

Momodou Ceesay fired Zilina in front after 51 minutes and the lead was doubled when Tomas Oravec headed home in the 73rd minute.

Swiss side Young Boys caused a major shock by beating Tottenham 3-2 in Bern in the evening's other game.