Thursday, March 13, 2003
 Celtic 1-1 Liverpool: FT Report


 Emile Heskey and Henrik Larsson both hit the net on their much-hyped comebacks - but it was the England international striker who came back to haunt his former manager Martin O'Neill to give Liverpool the upper hand in the "Battle of Britain".

Henrik Larsson and Dietmar Hamann clash at Celtic Park. (BenRadford/GettyImages)
But El Hadji-Diouf soured the draw for the Worthington Cup winners late on when he appeared to spit at the Celtic crowd and an investigation is certain to be launched.

The news before kick-off that the Swede and his rival had recovered from a double fracture of the jaw and hamstring injuries respectively added further spice to a wonderful occasion which was made even more special by a united rendition of "Never Walk Alone" pre-match.

But it was Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier who will be the happiest of the two managers after Heskey had scored a vital away goal and put them on course for the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup against the man who launched his career at Leicester City.

Amazingly it was only his seventh goal of the season compared to Larsson's 35th, but the winners of competition two seasons ago will be favourites to finish the job at Anfield next Thursday.

Heskey came in for Vladimir Smicer in the only change from Saturday's victory over Bolton Wanderers, but there was a surprise in Celtic's line-up with Paul Lambert dropping out to accommodate Sutton in midfield and the prolific striker alongside John Hartson.

But the Scottish champions took inspiration from the incredible noise conjured up and they came within inches of taking the lead after just 30 seconds.

Hartson beat Djimi Traore in the air and controlled Alan Thompson's pass before launching a fierce drive which beat Jerzy Dudek, but flicked the top of the crossbar on its way into the crowd behind the goal.

Liverpool failed to heed that warning and Celtic capitalised to make a dream early breakthrough just over a minute later.

The usually dependable Sami Hyypia misjudged Thompson's in-field cross and Hartson controlled the ball and lobbed it to the back post. Styllian Petrov picked it up and centred for Larsson to bundle the ball past Dudek with his knee from close range.

The men from Merseyside responded with a weak effort from Danny Murphy after the midfielder won a challenge with Jamie Smith and Robert Douglas comfortably saved.

But Celtic continued to bombard the Liverpool goal and Hartson sent another long-range effort fizzing over the bar after skipping past Dietmar Hamann in the fifth minute.

Liverpool started to show signs that they were finally settling down when Murphy fired over from outside the box after Owen had stepped over Jamie Carragher's infield pass.

But they retaliated in the best way possible by equalising in the 16th minute when John Arne Riise threaded the ball through to Emile Heskey to fire the ball low past Douglas and into the bottom corner of the net from a tight angle.

That clearly knocked the home side out of their stride and they suffered another injury blow in the 26th minute when Thompson had to go off and on came Steve Guppy.

Liverpool looked the more confident team after the restart, but they breathed a sigh of relief just a minute into the half when Hartson went down on the edge of the area under the clumsy challenge of Traore but referee Terje Hauge waved away protests.

The visitors continued to look a major threat on the break and only some great defending by Bobo Balde stopped Owen wriggling free in the box.

El-Hadji Diouf then got on the end of Riise's free-kick, but his goalbound header was blocked by Joos Valgaeren.

But Larsson had a glorious opportunity to put Celtic ahead again in the 53rd minute when Hartson capitalised on a slip by Traore to send the Swedish star clean through on goal, but Dudek read his chip perfectly to push the ball behind for a corner.

The Glasgow side almost paid the ultimate price in the 62nd minute following the best move of the match.

Heskey's flick found Gerrard, who quickly sent Diouf away down the right. He slipped the ball back inside to the Englishman, but he directed the ball wide of Douglas post.

Moments later and Balde needed to head Gerrard's fiercely-struck drive clear after more good work by Traore on the flank.

Douglas then prevented Owen from breaking more records with goals in five successive matches and equalling Ian Rush's European record when he brilliantly turned his right-foot drive around the post in the 75th minute.

Larsson was feeling the pace and was replaced by Lambert while Petrov and Guppy were booked as they desperately tried to stop Liverpool from scoring a killer goal.

Diouf touted controversy late on when he appeared to spit in the direction of the Celtic crowd to spark an angry reaction from a fan, who was arrested and he was soon after substituted and given a police escort down the tunnel.

That could have hampered a glorious night for Liverpool and Heskey - who will now be expected to move into the last four - at the expense of his former boss.