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| March 1, 2003 | Saturday | Zul Hijjah 27, 1423 |
Liverpool, Celtic in quarterfinals
PARIS, Feb 28: Liverpool and Celtic advanced to a mouthwatering quarterfinal in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night as both the English and Scottish sides cast aside continental opposition.
Michael Owen scored his 20th European goal to equal Ian Rush’s club record in a 2-0 victory over French side Auxerre at Anfield and Celtic went through 5-4 on aggregate despite losing 3-2 at VfB Stuttgart.
It was also a great boost for Liverpool with their League Cup final against Manchester United on Sunday and Celtic were delighted to still be on track for their second European trophy decades after their 1967 European Cup victory.
Owen ran on to a through ball from Danny Murphy midway through the second half and, running straight at the keeper, touched the ball into the net for his 20th European goal in 41 matches.
Welshman Rush was Liverpool’s top targetman during their glory years in the late 70’s and early 80’s when they won three European Cups but now Owen has matched his goal-scoring exploits.
A modest Owen said afterwards when questioned about his record-breaking performance: “It’s just satisfying to get into the next round.”
Murphy scored a 30-year second goal thanks to a spectacular gaffe by Auxerre keeper Fabien Cool who failed to save a shot aimed straight at him.
Liverpool looked nervous and uncertain as they defended their slim, 1-0 lead from the first leg in France but finally got the goal they were desperately after but had barely looked like achieving.
Owen took a Murphy pass, fractionally onside, strode on and lifted the ball gently past Cool and into the bottom corner.
The tie was ended as a contest in the 73rd minute when Gerrard fed Murphy some 30 yards out and the tough midfielder’s well-struck drive was too hot for Cool to handle.
Houllier could now start thinking about Sunday and Manchester United in the League Cup final and Henchoz was taken off to allow Igor Biscan into defence.
Owen almost added another just before the end when he hurled himself at Vladimir Smicer’s cross and lifted his shot over the bar.
As for Celtic’s victory, Alan Thompson got the first goal in the 13th minute, following good work by John Hartson and Didier Agathe, with Chris Sutton getting the second two minutes later.
Three late goals earned Stuttgart victory on the night and Celtic had to endure a jittery, closing spell.
Celtic stunned the home side by grabbing their all important first away goal.
Hartson flicked on Agathe’s cross and Thompson came in at the back post to head past Timo Hilderbrand from six yards out.
And things were to get so much better when Agathe outstripped Timo Wenzel for pace and squared for Sutton to fire into an empty net from close range.
Celtic were now 5-1 up on aggregate, but Stuttgart could have pulled a goal back in the 17th minute when Balde deflected Andreas Hinkel’s shot, but Douglas made a great save.
Aleksandr Gleb pulled another goal back with 15 minutes remaining after Ganea had headed Kevin Kuranyi’s cross wide from six yards.
Michael Mutzel gave Stuttgart the lead on the night in the 87th minute to give the visitors a few anxious moments late on - but the Scottish side held on to book their place in the quarter-finals.
In the March 13/20 quarter-finals, Besiktas of Turkey swept aside Slavia Prague to set up a clash with Wisla Krakow or Lazio, whose match was postponed because of a frozen pitch in the Polish capital.
Spaniards Malaga ousted AEK Athens and now meet Portugal’s Boavista, conquerors of Hertha Berlin, and FC Porto meet Greek club Panathinaikos.
Collated results:
AEK Athens 0 Malaga 1
Malaga win 1-0 on aggregate
Besiktas 4 Slavia Prague 2
Besiktas win 4-3
VfB Stuttgart 3 Celtic 2
Celtic win 5-4
Anderlecht 2 Panathinaikos 0
Panathinaikos win 3-2
Liverpool 2 Auxerre 0
Liverpool win 3-0
Denizlispor 2 FC Porto 2
Porto win 8-3
Wisla Krakow v Lazio postponed due to frozen pitch
1st leg: 3-3
Boavista 1 Hertha Berlin 0
3-3 on aggregate, Boavista go through on away goals
Quarterfinals on March 13/20
Besiktas v Wisla Krakow or Lazio
Malaga v Boavista
Celtic v Liverpool
FC Porto v Panathinaikos.—AFP
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