By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

Click here for full match stats

Celtic survived a penalty drama against Partick to sneak into the CIS Insurance Cup semi-finals and keep Martin O'Neill's dreams of another domestic Treble alive.

Alex Burns had cancelled out Paul Lambert's first-half goal and Celtic almost paid the price for missing chances when the game went into a sudden-death shoot-out.

But amazingly after nine penalties apiece, Momo Sylla scored before David Lilley missed to cost Thistle a famous victory at Parkhead.

Despite O'Neill's fond memories and positive words towards the competition the Celtic fans decided to stay away in numbers and those who had braved the driving rain were out-sung by the travelling Thistle fans occupying the corner of the stadium.

A strong-looking home side also looked to be lacking a bit of spark early on, but they went close early on through David Fernandez and Shaun Maloney.

Partick goalkeeper Kenny Arthur again needed to be alert in the 19th minute to push a low drive from Fernandez past the post after good perseverance from Tom Boyd.

Partick looked a threat on the break and Gerry Britton tested Robert Douglas with a fierce volley from Alan Archibald's cross moments later.

Hartson came within inches of adding to his remarkable goal tally of 10 in four starts in the 26th minute when his header from Fernandez's free-kick came back off the crossbar.

But Partick almost stunned the home side in the 36th minute when a glorious chance came their way.

Ulrik Laursen failed to cut-out Scott Paterson's searching long ball, but Britton controlled it and ran through on goal.

But when faced with the imposing figure of Douglas he made the wrong decision and instead of clipping it over his low blast was well saved by the Scotland goalkeeper.

Celtic, however, took the lead two minutes before half-time when Hartson directed Jamie Smith's cross into the six-yard box and Lambert bravely dived in to head the ball into the back of the net.

The home side started the second half as well as they finished the first and they should have killed it off within the space of two minutes.

First Crainey fed Fernandez just outside the area, but his right-foot drive was tipped over by Arthur.

A minute later and the ball fell invitingly for Lennon in the box after a goalmouth scramble, but the midfielder slashed the chance wide of the post.

But the home side paid the ultimate price in the 50th minute when the visitors equalised.

The Celtic defence were fast asleep as Britton clipped the ball into the danger area and Alex Burns was the quickest to react to prod the ball home from close range.

The home side continued to bombard the Partick area and in the 57th minute Lambert fed Hartson, but his powerful right-foot strike was pushed away by Arthur.

Celtic breathed a sigh of relief in the 62nd minute when Douglas came to the rescue to prevent the home side from falling behind.

Martin Hardie threaded the ball through to Walker and his first-time strike was pushed over the crossbar by the Scotland number one.

But that woke up Celtic and Arthur did well to push Lambert's low shot around the post, before Hartson headed wide and Laursen had an effort cleared off the line.

O'Neill brought off the ineffective Petta off for Sylla in the 70th minute and Celtic almost scored within two minutes.

Lennon threaded the ball through to Maloney and the youngster waited before picking out Fernandez in the centre, but his header came back off the foot of the post.

Lambie responded by bringing on McLean for Britton moments later, but the home side had another great chance to score in the 76th minute.

Sylla did well down the right and fired the ball across the face of goal, but it seemed to bounce off the leg of Smith and straight into the hands of a relieved Arthur.

Hartson, Fernandez and Lambert all went close late on before O'Neill threw on Stilian Petrov for the Spaniard to avoid extra-time with nine minutes of normal time remaining.

But the visitors were the ones to give Celtic a huge fright in the 85th minute when Lilley leapt unmarked to head Burns' corner just past the upright.

Chances were spurned by both teams in extra-time, but there was little surprise that that would continue in the penalties.

But with fears that the battle could go on all night with four players from both teams missing, the pressure got too much for Lilley after Sylla's kick.

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: Rab Douglas 

Teams:

Celtic, Douglas, Smith, Petta (Sylla 70), Boyd, Crainey, Laursen, Lambert, Lennon, Hartson, Fernandez (Petrov 81), Maloney.

Subs Not Used: Lynch, Kennedy, Gould.

Goals: Lambert 42.

Partick Arthur, Lilley, Archibald (Milne 39), Craigan, Whyte, Chiarini, Paterson, Hardie, Britton (McLean 72), Walker (McKinstry 81), Burns.

Subs Not Used: Waddell, Budinauckas.

Booked: Chiarini.

Goals: Burns 50.

Celtic win 5-4 on penalties

Att: 26,333

Ref: W Young.

The magnificent seven

Sunday 3rd November 2002

Celtic handed out yet another thrashing to a very poor dons side in a game that saw John Hartson taking his tally to 10 goals in four starts with four as Aberdeen were on the wrong end of a magnificent seven.

Aberdeen started off well and looked us though they could pose Celtic some problems, this was only temporary until Hartson scored the first of his four goals.

Allan Thompson did well to pick out Steve Guppy on the left and the Englishman swung an inviting cross into the box for the Welshman to head past the outstretched hand of David Preece.

Celtic became a different team after that goal and just nine minutes later the striker doubled his and the home side's tally.

Henrik Larsson was to add to his own tally just two minutes before the break as he curled a right-foot free-kick up and over the wall and past Preece.

By the time half time arrived the game was over as a contest with Celtic already three goals up.

Big Bad John was booming out over the Celtic Park public address system shortly after half time again when Allan Thompson picked out the striker at the back post and he steered his effort over the keeper and into the net.

Bobo  Balde got on the score sheet when he unleashed a low right-foot shot from wide of the box into the bottom corner to make the score 5-0.

Hartson scored his fourth of the afternoon when he netted from a Momo Sylla's cut back.

Celtic's seventh and final goal of the day was another belter from young Shaun Maloney cracking a brilliant long-range free-kick into the top corner with just five minutes left.

Once again Ebbe Skovdahl's side have travelled to Celtic Park and gone home suffering an embarrassing defeat.

Several good performances on the pitch with Guppy and Thompson causing the dons defence bother all afternoon, but the man of the match could only go to one man and it was of course John Hartson.

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH :- JOHN HARTSON

Teams

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen (Fernandez 72), Sylla, Petrov (Crainey 72), Sutton, Thompson (Maloney 72), Guppy, Larsson, Hartson.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Smith.

Goals: Hartson 26, 35, Larsson 43, Hartson 51, Balde 71, Hartson 81, Maloney 86.

Aberdeen: Preece, McGuire, Deloumeaux, Anderson, McAllister, Rutkiewicz (Billio 74), Darren Young, Derek Young (Tiernan 66), Bisconti (Mike 66), Fabiano, Michie.

Subs Not Used: Peat, O'Donoghue.

Booked: McGuire, Bisconti, McAllister.

Att: 58,526

Ref: H Dallas (Scotland).  

Super Swede does it again

Thursday 31st October 2002

Celtic take the narrowest of leads to Ewood Park, Blackburn in a fortnight's time after Celtic's Super Swede Henrik Larsson struck home the winner with just five minutes remaining.

A masterstroke by Martin O'Neill saw big John Hartson come off the bench to swing the tie in Celtic's favour.

It was Hartson who almost broke the deadlock when he powered in a header that Brad Friedel managed to palm out to the waiting Larsson to knock the ball home.

That goal saw him eclipse Ally McCoist's European record of 21 - but he still claimed that the result meant more to him that any milestone.

"I was aware of it," admitted Larsson. "But it wasn't very important. We won the game even though we didn't play our best stuff.

"All credit to their players because they kept the ball well and caused us problems, but in the end we got the result we wanted."

Larsson, who was sporting a black eye after being elbowed, was more than satisfied with the 1-0 scoreline after a below-par performance.

"We didn't play well," he conceded. "But in the end we still got the result we wanted and that's very important.

"It's always important not to concede in European games and now we know that if we can score there it will make our task easier."

Blackburn will wonder how they lost this game after causing Celtic all kinds of problems throughout the 90 minutes.

Our man of the match in this one was goalkeeper Rab Douglas who defied Blackburn Rovers on numerous occasions. 

Many of Celtic's players looked as though they had developed stage fright in this one and we will need a 100% improvement in a fortnight's time if we are to proceed to the next round

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH : RAB DOUGLAS

Teams

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen, Agathe (Sylla 80), Lennon, Lambert (Hartson 76), Petrov, Thompson, Larsson, Sutton.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Fernandez, Maloney, Guppy, Crainey.

Booked: Thompson.

Goals: Larsson 85.

Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Short, Johansson, Taylor, Thompson, Flitcroft, Tugay, Duff (Dunn 66), Ostenstad (Cole 45), Yorke.

Subs Not Used: Jansen, Grabbi, Kelly, Gillespie, Douglas.

Booked: Neill.

Att: 59,553

Ref: Hermann Albrecht (Kaufbeuren).

Celts hit four again

Sunday 27th October 2002

Celtic warmed up for Thursday’s UEFA Cup Tie against Blackburn Rovers with this easy 4-1 win over Dunfermline.

For the second week in a row Celtic rattled four past their opponents to keep the pressure on league leaders Rangers.

Celtic started off strangely lethargic and for the first 20 minutes a number of players looked as though they were thinking only of Thursday night’s game.

Our super Swede changed all that however with a fine goal on 25 minutes. Henrik opened the scoring with his 18th of the season before efforts from Alan Thompson, Stilian Petrov and Chris Sutton sealed the points, with Craig Brewster getting on the score sheet for the hosts.

A pretty poor match it has to be said with Celtic doing enough to secure all three points.

Johnny Gould replaced Rab Douglas in the Celtic goal when the big keeper called off ill prior to the game, Steve Guppy was also struck down with the same mystery bug and he also missed out in the win.

It was revealed after the game that Celtic’s Stilian Petrov broke a bone in his hand after falling awkwardly after scoring Celtic’s third goal.

All roads now lead to Celtic Park for one of our biggest cup tie’s in years when Graeme Souness’s Blackburn Rovers side come calling.

Blackburn had a fine win over Arsenal at Highbury on Saturday afternoon with Dwight Yorke netting the winner after 51 minutes to give Rovers all three points in their 2-1 win.

The tie looks like being a total sell out and the added attraction is that the game is being screened live across the UK network by the BBC.

I will preview the match on Wednesday

No shocks this time round

Wednesday 23rd October 2002

There was to be no repeat of a shock scoreline in last night's CIS Cup tie with Celtic running out deserved 4-2 winners.

Inverness Caley backed up by a large and vociferous support performed well over the 90 minutes and there tactics would put plenty of SPL sides to shame, they came at Celtic and had a right good go.

Shaun Maloney opened the scoring after only four minutes and it looked as though a rout was on the cards, Inverness Caley had other idea's though and equalised just five minutes later when a shot deflected off Bobo Balde and left Rab Douglas stranded.

John Hartson restored Celtic's lead with a neat header, and right on half time an Alan Thompson shot was deflected into the visitors net to put Celtic 3-1 up at half time.

John Hartson scored his second and Celtic's fourth to put the match out of Caley's reach.

Caley pulled another goal back through Derek Wyness with around twenty minutes remaining and sensing that they were still in the game they put Celtic under a good deal of pressure for the remainder of the match, there was to be no further scoring however and Celtic now progress to the next round.

A fair crowd of just under 35,000 watched an enjoyable match with the visitors for once not coming to Celtic Park to shore up their defence.

It's back to SPL business on Sunday with a visit to East End Park to face in form Dunfermline, I will preview this match on Friday afternoon.

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH : DAVID FERNANDEZ

Celtic: Douglas, Boyd (Miller 77), Balde (Kennedy 62), Crainey, Agathe (Wallace 68), Healy, Thompson, Maloney, Smith, Fernandez, Hartson.

Subs Not Used: Sylla, Gould.

Booked: Boyd, Kennedy.

Goals: Maloney 4, Hartson 20, Thompson 44, Hartson 61.

Inverness CT: Brown, Tokely (Keogh 73), Mann, Munro, Golabek, Duncan, McBain, Hart, Robson (Christie 72), Wyness, Ritchie (Low 79).

Subs Not Used: McCaffray, Ridgers.

Booked: McBain.

Goals: Ritchie 10, Wyness 72.

Att: 34,592

Ref: M McCurry (Scotland)

Celts in cruise mode

Sunday 20th October 2002

Celtic's ruthless striking pair sent out a chilling warning to Premier League leaders Rangers and John Hartson - who is contemplating a cold and frustrating winter on the bench.

Henrik Larsson scored a double while Chris Sutton and Stilian Petrov also weighed in with first-half goals to kill off Hearts and close the gap at the top of the table to one point.

But despite his impressive performance in Wales' midweek win over Italy and Martin O'Neill's dismissal of 'showdown talks', Hartson must have been wondering where his next start would come from.

He watched on as Celtic made the perfect start when they took the lead with their very first chance after just two minutes.

The opportunity came about after Scotland's star defender in Iceland last week, Steven Pressley, was rightly penalised for climbing all over the back of Sutton on the left touchline.

With the Hearts side on the defensive, Neil Lennon played the ball into Sutton, who turned his marker Kevin McKenna before drilling the shot low past the despairing dive of Roddy McKenzie.

The home side looked for a quick reply, but they were hit by a cruel sucker-punch just six minutes later.

Petrov, who looks set to sign a new deal soon, broke forward at pace and picked out Sutton on the right flank.

The Englishman's cross was touched on by Larsson to Steve Guppy who fired against the upright, but the ball fell kindly into the path of the Bulgarian to steer the ball into the back of the net.

Hearts in-form striker Mark de Vries was just not getting the service as his team-mates tried desperately to stay in the game.

Such was the champions' dominance it took Hearts 21 minutes to muster their first effort at goal, but Phil Stamp screwed his right-foot shot just past the post from the edge of the box.

The home side took some heart from that and they bustled their through for a chance three minutes later.

Paul McMullan played a long ball into the box and de Vries knocked the ball on to Andy Kirk, who drilled his right-foot shot into the side-netting from a tight angle with the help of a deflection.

Spurred on by their angry fans, Hearts won a free-kick in a dangerous area after 26 minutes when Paul Lambert was judged to have fouled de Vries five yards outside the box.

From the resulting kick Robert Douglas, who was at fault for two of the goals against Rangers recently, pulled off a great save down to his left to keep Jean-Louis Valois' effort out and then even bettered that with a superb reflex stop from Kirk's follow-up.

But Hearts were getting as agitated as their supporters, who were venting their anger at the mocking visiting fans, and Scott Severin was booked for a bad challenge on Didier Agathe.

It should have got even worse for the home side and they had all but accepted that the game was over in the 35th minute when Larsson had a glorious chance.

Petrov played the ball up to Sutton and he back-heeled the ball back into his path.

He looked up and saw the Swede lose his marker, but the dependable striker somehow struck his left-foot shot over the bar from seven yards.

But Larsson never let that affect him and he responded by killing the game off just two minutes later.

Sutton headed Lennon's inviting cross against the upright and the ball fell to his strike-partner to fire into the back of the net.

McKenna could have revived his side moments later when he fired wide after a goalmouth scramble, but it was Celtic who stretched their lead even further just three minutes before the break.

With the Hearts defence all over the place, Bobo Balde played the ball into the path of Larsson and he drew the keeper before dinking the ball over him for his 17th goal of the campaign.

Former Celtic youth player David McGeown was saved from any more agony on his full Hearts debut when he and Phil Stamp were taken off and replaced by Stephen Simmons and Andrew Webster.

Those remaining in maroon shirts must have been hoping that they too could have clocked off for the day and gone home.

The home fans, who had stayed on, finally had something to cheer in the 63rd minute when Agathe was booked for a foul on Kirk, but their brief smiles were nearly wiped away two minutes later.

The winger picked out Sutton to head down into the path of Larsson, who elected to use his foot instead of his head and promptly fired over the bar from little more than five yards.

Hartson finally got his chance in the 75th minute when he came on for Guppy, but even then he was overshadowed by Hearts substitute Gary Wales, who hit a late consolation.

The championship race might be hotting up - but if Larsson and Sutton continue to remain on fire the Welshman is facing being frozen out before the transfer window opens up in January.

Teams:

Hearts: McKenzie, Maybury, Pressley, McKenna, Severin, Stamp (Webster 45), McGeown (Simmons 45), McMullan, Valois, Kirk (Wales 77), de Vries.

Subs Not Used: Gordon, Twaddle.

Booked: Severin.

Goals: Wales 89.

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren (Crainey 75), Balde, Laursen, Agathe, Lambert, Lennon, Petrov (Thompson 68), Guppy (Hartson 75), Sutton, Larsson.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Miller.

Booked: Agathe.

Goals: Sutton 3, Petrov 9, Larsson 37, 42.

Att: 13,911

Ref: K Clark (Scotland).

Business as usual for Hoops

By Alison McConnell

Tuesday 08th October 2002

Jason Cousins Testimonial

Jason Cousins Testimonial

Henrik Larsson netted twice as Jason Cousins discovered that Celtic weren't in a benevolent mood in their first performance since the 3-3 Old Firm draw on Sunday afternoon. The Wycombe defender's testimonial attracted a crowd of just over 5,000 spectators who saw Celtic predictably steamroll their way past the Second Division outfit. First half strikes from the Swede were supplemented by a Cousins own goal and a Momo Sylla strike as Celtic's inevitable superiority shone over Martin O'Neill's former charges. It was an emotional evening for the Irishman who admitted feeling a little strange at retuning to his old stomping ground, while Steve Guppy, unable to play because of a back injury, received a warm welcome from the Wycombe fans when he was paraded at the interval. It was a strong side that started the game, with Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton starting up front, while Alan Thompson, Didier Agathe, David Fernandez, Bobby Petta and Neil Lennon also kicked off. There was also a rare appearances for veteran defender Tom Boyd, while Jonathan Gould took the place between the sticks. However, as the game wore on and the inevitable glut of changes duly followed there were first-team debuts for 19-year-old Craig Beattie, 17-year-old keeper David Marshall and 16-year-old Michael McGlinchey. Celtic inevitably controlled the pace of the game with Larsson, Petta and Agathe all coming close in the early minutes. It took until the 14th minute however before the Wycombe defence was breached, with a predictable executioner. Larsson collected the ball deep inside the hosts half before taking a few strides forward, allowed himself a quick glance up and then unleashed a ferocious drive into the top left-hand corner to beat Martin Taylor in the Wycombe goal. The Swede almost doubled his tally five minutes later with a free-kick from the far flank, but his attempt took a deflection and bounced out of play for a corner. Larsson came closer still in the 20th minute when Fernandez sent him skipping clear of the Wycombe defence, but his shot was straight into the side netting. Steve Brown replied a couple of minutes later with a swerving shot that came close to finding its target, but looped over both Gould and the crossbar. The flow of the action was hugely one-way, however, and on the half hour mark only a late clearance from Andy Thomson prevented Agathe from adding to Celtic's tally when he collected a through pass from Fernandez and sent a delicate chip over the head of Taylor. Five minutes later though and Larsson popped in his second of the evening when he broke through the Wycombe defence and drove the ball into the net. The striker was denied his hat-trick minutes later when a frantic clearance from Taylor and Thomson prevented Larsson's header converting a Petta cross. As the interval beckoned Celtic ought to have earned a spot kick when Fernandez was upended by Paul McCarthy but, perhaps in a kind attempt at keeping the scoreline down, but referee Dermot Gallacher waved play on. Momo Sylla and Jamie Smith appeared for the Hoops after the interval at the expense of Ulrik Laursen and Alan Thompson, while Wycombe, Jason Cousins apart, changed the entire outfield team. Richard Harris almost grabbed a goal back for the hosts after Celtic were caught on the break, but Gould stuck a leg to prevent the ball finding a way past him and into the net. Larsson ought to have netted immediately afterwards when he broke free of the Wycombe defence, but he over-ran the ball and the chance was lost. Minutes later man of the evening Cousins put the ball into his net after finding himself under pressure, before he was replaced to a standing ovation by Lewis Cook. A glut of Hoops substitutions followed with a host of youngsters introduced to proceedings, with Ross Wallace in particular taking his chance to shine. The youngster shimmied his way past two Wycombe defenders on the left flank minutes after arriving on the pitch before trying his luck with a wild effort that soared high and wide, but nevertheless earned him a raucous round of applause from the Hoops support. It was Sylla who sliced home the fourth with fifteen minutes remaining, but although no more goals followed, veteran Wycombe player Dave Carroll spent the last four minutes of the game in a Hoops shirt after replacing Colin Healy. It was young Beattie however who came close to grabbing the spotlight in the final minutes when he came agonisingly close to finding the net on his first appearance for the senior team, but his shot scraped the post.

Celtic Team: Gould; Boyd, Sutton, Laursen; Agathe, Lennon, Healy,
Thompson, Petta, Fernandez, Larsson

Subs: Marshall, Sylla, Miller, Fotheringham, Smith, Wallace, Doyle,
Beattie, McGlinchy

Attendance 5072, (1044 Celtic fans attended)

Honours even in six goal thriller

Sunday 06th October 2002

Celtic clawed back a point in this pulsating Old Firm match at Celtic Park. The match was full of incident out with the six goals. We had wild tackles all over the pitch, a fight in the tunnel at half time, a firecracker thrown onto the pitch at half time, seven players booked and various racial abuses being directed towards some of our coloured players.

The refereeing also left a lot to be desired with many basic mistakes being made by Stuart Dougal.

On top of that lot we had a football match to be played and it must be said that Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas cost his side three valuable points.

That we managed to get one point out of this game comes down to the brilliance of one Henrik Larsson, the guy was streets ahead of anyone else on the pitch and Rangers player Lorenzo Amoruso must have wished he had kept his mouth shut by saying that he thought Larsson was past his best.

To the goals and it were the Govan men who opened the scoring after just six minutes when Douglas allowed a shot from Arteta to squirm under his body.

The Celtic fans were screaming for a penalty in the 14th minute when Lambert went down under a Peter Lovenkrands challenge.

Celtic were then put under the cosh for around 20 minutes and then the game began to change shape with the home side beginning to get the upper edge.

A second penalty claim was turned down when Ricksen pushed Stan Petrov in the box.

The Celtic pressure had to pay off and it did in spectacular fashion when Celtic’s super Swede with his back to goal and Craig Moore behind him he controlled an in-field pass from Momo Sylla before spinning around to drill an unstoppable right-foot shot past Klos and into the top corner.

Half time came and the tunnel incident was being replayed across TV sets throughout the country.

The second half got under way and Celtic were looking to finish their rivals off, and things seemed to be going to plan.

Just seven minutes in and Henrik managed to lose Numan in the box to power a header past Klos from Stan Petrov’s corner kick.

But that lead lasted less than a minute with the home side still caught up in the celebration.

Substitute Neil McCann curled an inviting ball into the box and de Boer leaped to head emphatically past Douglas from six yards to tie the score at 2-2.

Douglas was again at fault as Rangers surged into the lead yet again after 75 minutes; he failed to hold an Arthur Numan shot and with Arveladze in threatening the ball spun over the line.

It was then the home side’s turn to try and save the match and they did just two minutes later, Chris Sutton poking the ball home from close range after Rangers had failed to clear a Thompson free-kick.

Thus ended the scoring but in between all of the goals Henrik had a chance for a hat trick but Klos turned his headed effort over the bar. Alan Thompson also saw a free kick effort crash off the junction the bar and post as Celtic pushed forward.

A great advert for Scottish football with the game being beamed live across the UK by the BBC.

Website man of the match : Henrik Larsson

Celtic Douglas, Sylla (Agathe 59), Valgaeren, Laursen, Balde, Thompson, Lambert (Maloney 77), Lennon, Petrov (Hartson 74), Sutton, Larsson.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Crainey.

Booked: Thompson, Sylla, Balde.

Goals: Larsson 39, 53, Sutton 78.

Rangers Klos, Ricksen, Moore (Konterman 45), Amoruso, Numan, Ferguson, de Boer (Caniggia 84), Ross, Arteta, Arveladze, Lovenkrands (McCann 50).

Subs Not Used: McGregor, Latapy.

Booked: de Boer, Ricksen, Arveladze, Ross.

Goals: Arteta 6, de Boer 54, Arveladze 75.

Att: 59,027

Ref: S Dougal (Scotland).

10-1 to the champions

Thursday 03rd October 2002

Celtic can now look forward to the first Old Firm match of the season knowing that they are the only Scottish team left in Europe this season. 

Two goals from David Fernandez and Alan Thompson put Celtic in easy street as the club marched to a 10-1 aggregate victory.

The sparse crowd of just 1, 200 enjoyed a a game played out by Celtic's second eleven.

All in all a good workout for Martin O'Neill's men and a good trip for the fans who decided to travel over.

Suduva coach Gabrys Algimantas, however, was talking up Celtic's UEFA Cup aspirations.

He said: "They have some very good young players and look a very good team. They taught us a footballing lesson over the two legs especially in Glasgow and they could go really far."

We now look forward to next week's draw and on current form anything is possible in this competition. 

Website man of the match :Jackie McNamara

Teams

FK Suduva: Padimanskas, Sendzikas, Devetinus, Kunevicius, Grigas, Adomaitus, Sullaskas, Zitinskas, Andrius Larcenka, Slavickas, Radzinevicius.

Subs Not Used: Balnys, Saulius Kraipavicius, Hctiulis, Stankevicius, Rukavicius, Klevinskas, Sidlauskas.

Booked: Grigas.

Celtic: Gould, McNamara (Miller 71), Thompson, Hartson, Fernandez, Petta (Lynch 78), Agathe, Healy, Maloney, Crainey, Kennedy (Smith 51).

Subs Not Used: Douglas, Sylla, Balde, Laursen.

Booked: Hartson, Maloney.

Goals: Fernandez 12, Thompson 24.

Agg (1-10) Att: 1,200

Ref: F Bede (Hungary)

Henke hits hatrick in demolition of Killie

Saturday 28th September 2002

Celtic warmed up for their trip to Lithuania and the first Old Firm derby of the season by completely outplaying a very ordinary Kilmarnock side.

The game was over for the Ayrshire side as soon as Henrik struck after just eleven minutes, after that it was really a case of how many would we score on the day.

Neil Lennon, made the opening goal with a dangerous cross into the six-yard box. Henrik reacted quickly to put  the ball past former Celt Gordon Marshall.

Just four minutes later Celtic where two up Larsson was again involved as he exchanged passes with Chris Sutton on the edge of the box for the Englishman to coolly slot the ball past the wrong-footed Kilmarnock goalkeeper.

After 21 minutes the game was up for Jim Jefferies men. Paul Lambert swung an inviting cross into the back post to Bobo Balde, from Sylla's short corner.

The defender directed the ball across goal and Sutton's looping effort came back off the crossbar to the grateful Swede, who had the easiest of opportunities to head home from close range.

The second half was a fairly timid affair with Celtic adding another two goals through Chris Sutton on 65 minutes and Henrik completed his hatrick with a penalty kick right on the final whistle.

A good workout for Martin O'Neill's men who now look forward to a jaunt across to Lithuania.

Website man of the match : Henrik Larsson

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde (Maloney 74), Laursen, Sylla (Hartson 66), Lennon, Lambert, Petrov (Agathe 67), Guppy, Larsson, Sutton.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Crainey.

Goals: Larsson 11, Sutton 15, Larsson 21, Sutton 66, Larsson 90 pen.

Kilmarnock: Marshall, Shields, Innes, McLaughlin, Canero (Mitchell 36), Fowler, Mahood, Sanjuan, Fulton, Di Giacomo (Boyd 64), Quitongo (Hay 64).

Subs Not Used: Meldrum, Canning.

Att: 57,469

Ref: K Clark (Scotland).

It's Henke to the rescue again

Sunday 22nd September 2002

Celtic took all three points in this rather dull encounter. Henrik Larsson was again the Celtic hero when he curled home a spectacular goal after Steve Guppy rolled the ball into his path.

The Swede picked out Steve Guppy with a superb cross-field ball, after some good work by Petrov and Momo Sylla, and after receiving it back he clipped an inch-perfect chip over the stunned Speroni.

The only goal of the game came in the 17th minute, Celtic created loads of more chances but failed to convert any and in the end they had to settle for the narrow win.

Celtic’s best player on the day was Steve Guppy who put in a rake of crosses but unfortunately no one was on the end of them to stick the ball in the Dundee net.

Petrov was unfortunate not to score in the 71st minute when his delicate chip left Speroni for dead, but the crossbar came to his and Dundee's rescue.

The home side were again let off the hook in the 76th minute when Thomas Hutchinson fouled Sutton’s replacement John Hartson in the area, but the referee waved play on.

So Celtic keep the pressure on Old Firm rivals Rangers and with the first derby fixture coming up at the start of next month things are beginning to heat up in the race for the SPL.

Attendance: 9,483

Website man of the match: Steve Guppy

Referee: J Underhill.

Dundee: Speroni, MacKay, Smith, Hutchinson (Lovell 79), Novo, Hernandez

Santos, Rae, Nemsadze, Caballero, Sara, Wilkie. 

Subs not used:

Langfield, Milne, Mair, Brady. 

Booked: Rae.

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen, Sylla (Crainey 80),

Lambert, Lennon, Petrov, Guppy, Larsson, Sutton (Hartson 74). 

Subs not used:

Gould, Fernandez, Maloney. 

Booked: Lennon.

Celts stroll through to second round

Thursday 19th September 2002

Celtic were back to their lethal best as they completed the job of going through to the second round of this seasons UEFA cup. 

Henrik Larsson was also in fine form to make all of his doubters over the last few weeks eat a large chunk of humble pie.

Celtic set about their task right from the start of this one and although it took 16 minutes before the Suduva net was bulging the writing was already on the wall for this young Lithuanian side. 

The goals were flowing as Celtic raced into a five nil lead at the break, Larsson bagging a hat-trick together with an absolute belter from Stan the Man and Chris Sutton rounding things off nicely just before the half time whistle.

The second half continued in much the same style with Celtic pressing home at every opportunity, another three goals followed with Paul Lambert, John Hartson & Joos Valgaeren getting in on the act.

FK Suduva managed to pull a goal back right at the death when Rab Douglas made a howler of his kick out and Tomas Radzinevicius nipped in to net a consolation for the Lithuanians. 

Martin O'Neill made three substitutions in the second half to give Crainey, Hartson and Fernandez a much needed run out.

Birthday Bhoy Henrik equalled the goals total scored by a Scottish striker in Europe as he banged in his treble, he now sits on 21 goals alongside ex Ibrox legend Ally McCoist. 

Henrik who turned 31 on Friday now has the chance to move out in front in the return leg providing of course that Martin O'Neill takes him on the trip to the Baltic state.

This may now be a good opportunity for some of the young guns to show their mettle in Lithuania next month.

The attendance on the night was a little under 37,000 but is still ranks among the best throughout all of the UEFA fixtures on the night.

Attendance : 36,824

Website man of the match : Henrik Larsson

Referee : M Liva (Czech Rep).

Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen (Crainey 60), Sylla, Lambert, Lennon (Fernandez 60), Petrov, Guppy, Larsson (Hartson 61), Sutton.

Subs Not Used: Gould, McNamara, Thompson, Agathe.

Booked: Laursen, Petrov.

Goals: Larsson 16, 24, Petrov 27, Larsson 29, Sutton 35, Lambert 50, Hartson 72, Valgaeren 83.

FK Suduva: Padimanskas, Sendzikas, Suilauskas, Grigas, Devetinus