PSV Eindhoven mounted a stunning comeback with three late goals against Shakhtar Donetsk to give their chances of progress in the Champions League a huge boost.

The Ukrainian side were on the brink of pulling off an upset of their own in the Phillips Stadium as they twice punished some sloppy PSV defending in the first half with lethal finishes by Danylo Sikan and Oleksandr Zubkov.

PSV were the more enterprising side, but were unable to find a way past the colossal presence of Dmytro Riznyk in the Shakhtar goal. But they were handed a lifeline in the 70th minute when Pedro Henrique was sent off for upending Johan Bakayoko.

Riznyk continued to repel the home side’s attacks until Malik Tillman stepped up to take a free-kick in the 87th minute. The American midfielder spotted the goalkeeper a fraction off his line and drove in a hard low shot that Riznyk clutched but carried over the line.

Tillman’s second goal three minutes later was a gem as he picked up a loose ball five metres outside the penalty area, shifted it onto his right foot and unleashed a shot that flew past Riznyk’s outstretched right hand.

With the clock ticking down on five minutes of time, substitute Ricardo Pepi squeezed the ball inside the left-hand post from Ryan Flamingo’s lay-off to break Shakhtar’s hearts and claim all three points.

The result leaves PSV in 18th place in the 36-team table, four points above the cut-off point that would give them a place in the play-off round, with three matches to play in the group stage.

Captain Luuk de Jong said his team-mates had dug themselves out of a hole after allowing Shakhtar to take a 2-0 lead.

“We were the better team, but they had one tactic and that was the counter, while we didn’t convert enough of our chances,” he told Ziggo Sport.

“After the red card we were able to come back, Malik scored two fantastic goals and Ricardo was in the right place to win the game. It was fantastic.”

PSV’s next match is away to French surprise packages Brest, who are just outside the automatic qualification places in 11th spot, on December 10.