Celtic 1-1 Liverpool
Liverpool will take a slight advantage back to Anfield for the second leg of this UEFA Cup tie, after holding Celtic to a draw at Parkhead.
Despite early injury worries for both teams, with Henrik Larsson and Emile HEskey doubtful for the match, both managers were able to field almost their strongest line ups, with Martin O'Neill opting for a three man forward line consisting of Chris Sutton and John Hartson alongside the returning Larsson, who had been out for over a month with a broken jaw.
After a fantastic rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, lead by Gerry Marsden and sung by all 60,000 fans inside the ground, it was Celtic who got the game underway with the home side starting the game extremely well, and they could have been ahead after only 12 seconds, when the ball was quickly delivered forward from the kick off, and a flick on from Chris Sutton just outside the area found John Hartson, and the former West Ham and Coventry forward struck a dipping shot which beat Dudek but clipped the top of the bar.
The Bhoys were ahead within two minutes though, and it was Henrik Larrsson with the strike on his return to the side.
John Hartson crossed the ball from the right side with a lob over Liverpool's defenders and after Carragher had failed to deal with the ball as it dropped at the far post, Alan Thompson knocked a short ball to Larsson who was a couple of yards in front of goal, and the Swede beat Dudek to it and bundled the ball over the line with his knee.
A fierce shot from outside the are from John Hartson was a not far over the bar on four and a half minutes, as Celtic piled on the early pressure, which the crowd responded to to create an unbelievable atmosphere inside the ground.
Liverpool got more into the game as the half went on though, and Danny Murphy was on the end of a good move which ended with a pass from Hamann along the edge of the 18 yard box, which Owen cleverly stepped over to allow the ball to run on to Murphy, but he got underneath the shot which looped over the bar and dropped just behind the goal.
The Reds were soon on level terms though, thanks to a seventh goal of the season from Emile Heskey.
John Arne Riise provided the assist for Heskey, after a quick run on the left of field during which he beat a couple of Celtic players as he cut inside and played a short ball from the edge of the area in to Heskey, and the big forward fired a low left footed shot across goal which left Rab Douglass with no chance.
Liverpool went on to enjoy far more of the ball in the first half, and the midfield trio of Hamann, Gerrard and Murphy controlled the game. But neither team really found any chances coming their way though both Bobo Balde for Celtic, and his opposite number Djimi Traore could take a lot of credit for that, with both centre backs looking solid in defence and dealing with every ball with came into the area.
The half time scoreline was a fair reflection of a first half which had been fairly evenly matched over the course of the 45 minutes.
No changes were made the the teams for the start of the second half, and Celtic again had the first chance to add to the scoreline which came after eight minutes of the restart.
A mistake in the middle of the Liverpool half by Traore allowed Hartson to claim possession, and the Welshman picked out Larsson with a perfectly weighted pass, before Larsson looked to chip the ball over Jerzy Dudek as he rushed off his line, though saw his shot well blocked by the Liverpool 'keeper.
The same two of Hartson and Larsson almost combined again after an hour of the game, with Hartson winning a header 10 yards inside the Liverpool half which looked to set Larsson clear, but as Celtic's goalscorer began his run, he was stopped by the raised flag of the linesman, much to Larsson's frustration.
Liverpool immediately broke forward themselves, and an excellent pass along the right touchline by Gerrard was collected by Diouf, who played a first time ball into the near post where Heskey was heading towards. Rad Douglass did jus enough in the Celtic goal to put off Heskey though, and forced the Liverpool striker to take the chance quicker than he would have liked, and at full stretch, Heskey was unable to turn the ball goalwards.
A further shot on goal moments later by Heskey caused Douglass fewer problems as the ball flew high over the bar and into the Lisbon Lions stand of the ground.
The tie remained finely balanced, with either side still capable of scoring a late goal to win the first leg, and Djimi Traore prevented John Hartson from doing just that for Celtic, when Traore made a brilliant challenge in the area as Hartson looked set to shoot from close range.
Michael Owen was close at the opposite end to putting Liverpool in the lead, with a fierce volley aimed at the near post from around ten yards out, which Douglass did well to get his fingertips to and deflect wide for a what should have been a corner, though neither the referee nor the linesman saw the touch from the keeper and a goal kick to Celtic was awarded.
The game was to end in controversy though, after Diouf was caught on camera spitting at a Celtic fan. After falling into the main stand, Diouf was helped to his feet by a number of the fans in the front row of the stand, though after a couple of patted on Diouf's head, the Senegalese forward got to his feet and spat into the crowd, sparking angry scenes involving a couple of Celtic fans who attempted to make their way onto the pitch, no doubt to confront Diouf. A crowd of Police Officers and match stewards were required to keep things under control and after both supporters had been arrested, Gerard Houllier made the decision to instantly remove Diouf from the action.
IT was unfortunate that an exciting game of football was to be overshadowed by an off the ball incident, but with the second leg at Anfield in a week's time, the players will get another chance to make sure that the tie will be remembered more for the football rather than anything else, and after becoming the first side in two years to prevent Celtic from winning a European match at Celtic Park, next week's game will see Liverpool begin as slight favourites, with a place in the UEFA Cup semi finals at stake.
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