Inter forward Rodrigo Palacio (right) dashes past Celtic’s Jason Denayer yesterday.

Celtic and Inter lit up the first knock-out stage of the Europa League yesterday after sharing six goals in a thrilling 3-3 draw as Romelu Lukaku struck a hat-trick in a 4-1 win for Everton at Young Boys.

Inter let slip a two-goal lead and then a 3-2 advantage as Celtic levelled in the third minute of stoppage time in Glasgow.

John Guidetti’s added-time equaliser ensured Celtic go into next week’s second leg on level terms.

Xherdan Shaqiri put the Italians in front when Craig Gordon spilled early on before Rodrigo Palacio doubled Inter’s lead.

Stuart Armstrong and Hugo Campagnaro’s own goal brought Celtic level.

Palacio profited from a Gordon blunder to fire Inter in front again, but Guidetti’s first goal since November restored parity.

In Bern, Lukaku looked like the dynamic target man Everton fans have been hoping to see all season and could have scored five in a rampant display in the first leg of their last-32 clash with Young Boys.

Liverpool, one of the eight teams to have dropped into Europe’s second tier competition from the Champions League, needed a late penalty from Mario Balotelli to take a 1-0 first-leg advantage against Turkish side Besiktas.

Napoli were among the other first-leg winners, beating Trabzonspor 4-0 away, and were considerably happier than Serie A rivals Roma whose status among the favourites looked questionable after a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Feyenoord.

Napoli boss Rafa Benitez is seeking to become only the second man after Giovanni Trapattoni to win the trophy for a third time after victories with Valencia in 2004 and Chelsea in 2013 and his bid remains firmly on course.

His team effectively booked a spot in the next round with goals from Henrique, Gonzalo Higuain, Manolo Gabbiadini and Duvan Zapata.

At the Stadio Olimpico, Gervinho opened the scoring for Roma with a deft flick from close range but Colin Kazim-Richards netted a simple chance to level the scores with a potentially precious away goal.

Sevilla stayed on course to retain their title with a 1-0 home win over Borussia Moenchengladbach while Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 at home to Fiorentina.

Roberto Soldado volleyed in a sixth-minute opener from Paulinho’s corner as Spurs dominated the opening half-hour.

But Argentina centre-back Jose Maria Basanta scrambled in an away goal that gives Vincenzo Montella’s side the edge ahead of next week’s second leg.

Nacer Chadli hit the crossbar for Spurs who faded after half-time.

Results
Torino vs Ath. Bilbao - 2-2
Young Boys vs Everton - 1-4
PSV vs Zenit SP - 0-1
Roma vs Feyenoord - 1-1
Dnipro vs Olympiakos - 2-0
Trabzonspor vs Napoli - 0-4
Aalborg vs Club Brugge - 1-3
Wolfsburg vs S. Lisbon - 2-0
Villarreal vs Salzburg - 2-1
Guingamp vs D. Kiev - 2-1
Sevilla vs B. M’gladbach - 1-0
Ajax vs L. Warsaw - 1-0
Anderlecht vs D. Moscow - 0-0
Celtic vs Inter - 3-3
Tottenham vs Fiorentina - 1-1
Liverpool vs Besiktas - 1-0

Second legs: February 26