FK Teplice 1-0 Celtic

Last updated : 03 March 2004 By Kevin Smith
Despite being beaten 1-0 in the Czech Republic tonight, Celtic are in the draw for the final sixteen of the UEFA Cup.

Celtic went down to a Masek goal, after 34 minutes, and kept the scoreline at 0-1 for the remainder of the game, thus seeing us through 3-1 over the two legs.

A worry from the game though, is that Chris Sutton was taken off with what appears to be a twisted ankle. The striker is doubtful for Sunday's Old Firm cup tie, and with John Hartson and Shaun Maloney both injured, Craig Beattie could be in line for a shock start. Still, we will see how things develop.

Teplice's goal came from a mistake from Stanislav Varga. Identical to his mistake in Munich earlier this season, he made a poor headed clearance, falling at the feet of Masek, who smashed home to put Teplice 1-0 up.

Varga, Balde, Thompson, Agathe and Petrov were poor tonight, and similar performances at the weekend will not be acceptable. In fact, the only players who received pass marks were Jackie McNamara, Paul Lambert, John Kennedy and Henrik Larsson. Neil Lennon was badly missed, we could have done with him alongside Lambert.

The scoreline didn't matter tonight, as the work was done in Glasgow last week. The important thing is that we are into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup for the second year in a row.

The draw for the next round, the quarter finals and the semi finals will be made tomorrow. A list of our possible opponents will appear on this site later tonight, when the rest of the ties are finished.

Enjoy it tonight, Bhoys.

Celtic:
Douglas - 6
Balde - 6
Varga - 5
McNamara - 8 (Valgaeren - 5)
Kennedy - 7
Lambert - 9
Petrov - 6
Agathe - 5
Thompson - 5
Larsson - 7
Sutton - 6 (Pearson - 7)

Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Paul Lambert