PARIS (AFP) - English Premier League sides Tottenham and Bolton took tentative steps closer to the UEFA Cup last 16 on Thursday while Aberdeen maintained Scottish pride with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich.

Tottenham overcame an awful howler by goalkeeper Radek Cerny to beat Slavia Prague 2-1 while El Hadji Diouf gave Bolton a 1-0 first leg win over Atletico Madrid.

Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane had given Spurs a 2-0 cushion at half-time in Prague to keep alive coach Juande Ramos's dreams of winning a third successive UEFA Cup to add to his two with Sevilla in 2006 and 2007.

But Cerny, a former Slavia player, gifted the Czechs a goal in the 69th minute when he dropped a cross.

"I think we controlled the match in the first hour but then we became quite nervous. We should have achieved a better result," said Ramos who refused to blame Cerny for his mistake.

"Mistakes are made on the field. Today it was the turn of Cerny, but we should not dwell on it."

The English side, winners of the competition in 1972 and 1984, were in front after just four minutes when Berbatov scored with a smart half-volley from the edge of the penalty area which beat Martin Vaniak in the Slavia goal.

Spurs were deservedly two goals ahead on the half-hour mark when Keane latched on to a fine Jermaine Jenas pass before slotting the ball past Vaniak.

Slavia pulled a goal back when David Hubacek's hopeful left wing cross was dropped by Cerny on his goalline in the 69th minute and David Strihavka stabbed the ball home over the line from underneath the crossbar.

At the Reebok Stadium, El Hadji Diouf's goal 16 minutes from time gave Bolton a 1-0 lead to take to Spain next week as they beat 10-man Atletico Madrid.

The game turned in the 74th minute when Atletico substitute Sergio Aguero was sent-off for spitting on Matt Taylor.

Moments later Senegal striker Diouf scored from six yards following good build-up play by Stelios Giannakopoulos and Taylor.

"We stressed the importance of keeping a clean sheet," said Bolton boss Gary Megson.

"We've kept four clean sheets out of our last five games. We're doing OK, not just as a back four but as a team. We would have liked to have scored more goals, but we couldn't have tried harder."

Bayern Munich twice came from behind to secure a 2-2 draw at Aberdeen.

In front of a lively crowd of 20,047, the Dons had been hoping to emulate their 1983 predecessors, who defeated Bayern 3-2 on their way to winning the Cup Winners Cup.

At half time, a home victory looked a possibility with Aberdeen leading 2-1 thanks to goals from on-loan teenagers Josh Walker and Sone Aluko with German World Cup striker Miroslav Klose scoring in between for Munich.

However, Bayern were awarded a soft second half penalty, and although Hamit Altintop's effort was blocked by goalkeeper Jamie Langfield, the Turkish international smashed the rebound home.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood believed a draw was a fair result. Calderwood said his Aberdeen side can still knock Bayern ut of the UEFA Cup.

"It was a wonderful first half performance and it says a lot that we're disappointed we've not beaten one of the richest clubs in the world," said Calderwood.

"We were hoping to make a wee bit of history and if we had won the game we would have, but we've still got a chance.

"Football is football and it's only 11 men against 11. The tie is far from over and we have nothing to lose.

"It's all about confidence and belief that we can do it. Good teams let you play and you need to have confidence to go and play, although obviously you have to defend well."

SV Hamburg had better luck than their Bundesliga rivals Bayern when they cruised to a 3-1 victory at FC Zurich while former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu scored after 16 minutes to give Fiorentina a 1-0 win at Rosenborg in Norway.

In the night's other tie, Portugal's Benfica edged Nuremberg 1-0.