Larsson's miss frustrates Celtic

Celtic 1 Boavista 1

They did it at Anfield, they will have to do it in Oporto too. Celtic's quest to reach the Uefa Cup final will rely on conjuring up the same kind of roadshow that proved to be Liverpool's undoing.

The Scottish champions overcame the same scoreline at Parkhead in the last round. Martin O'Neill's side had to recover from an own goal by Joos Valgaeren, with Henrik Larsson supplying his habitual goal. However, Celtic's prolific striker wasted a great chance to give them a crucial lead for the return leg in a fortnight, missing a penalty with 14 minutes remaining. Boavista celebrated at the the end as if they were in the final already.

There was a characteristically defiant response from O'Neill, who also took exception to the Portuguese side's spoiling tactics. "You have to try and play the game fairly, but unfortunately rolling around, staying down and feigning injuries is a major part of the game and it's very disappointing," the Celtic manager said.

"They came here to do a job and that's what they did," he added. "They tried to kill the game at every opportunity."

This was an occasion that Celtic supporters had waited 29 years for. The last time a semi-final was staged here, in the European Cup in 1974, Atletico Madrid came to Glasgow and produced a remarkably cynical performance, fielding a shadow side who had three men sent off but achieved their goal of a 0-0 draw to take home to Spain.

Celtic almost had the start they wanted after seven minutes when Larsson, released by John Hartson's clever pass, tried to loft the ball over Boavista's goalkeeper Ricardo but saw his effort just clear the bar. A loud appeal for a penalty was then denied when Paulo Turra appeared to handle in the box, with Boavista taking heart from their let-off. Seven minutes later, Mario Loja went on a piercing run into the box and the ball was cut back to Duda, but his right-foot shot took a deflection which kept it out.

However, there were precious few opportunities like that in a first half that was full of toil but had little inspiration. Yet the deadlock was broken five minutes after the break as both sides exchanged goals within 90 seconds of each other.

A huge silence engulfed the ground in the 49th minute as Celtic went behind. Filipe Anunciacão delivered a cross that tempted a lunge from Valgaeren, who turned the ball past Rab Douglas.

Larsson, though, had Celtic level instantly. Neil Lennon and Stilian Petrov combined for the latter to pick out the Swede in the area and he found a yard of space to drill a low shot past Ricardo from 10 yards for his 37th goal of the season.

Celtic began to turn up the heat, with Petrov contributing some of his trademark searing runs. A Pedrosa free-kick which beat the Celtic wall tested Douglas, yet 14 minutes from the end Alan Thompson's driven free-kick was handled by Eder to give away a penalty. Larsson took it, but Ricardo read the striker's intentions, sprang to his right, and beat the kick away.

Celtic (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Baldé, Valgaeren; Agathe (Sylla, 74), Lambert, Lennon, Petrov (Fernandez, 78), Thompson; Larsson, Hartson. Substitutes not used: Marshall (gk), McNamara, Maloney, Smith, Crainey.

Boavista (4-4-2): Ricardo; Martelinho, Turra, Eder, Loja; Avalos, Pedrosa (Oscar, 89), Anunciacão, Erivan; Duda, Claudio (Cafu, h-t; Bosingwa, 80). Substitutes not used: William (gk), Couto, Jocivalter, Yuri.

Referee: F De Bleeckere (Belgium).

* In the other Uefa Cup semi-final Porto sprang a surprise by coming from behind to beat Lazio 4-1 at a rain-soaked Antas stadium. Claudio Lopez put the visitors in front but goals from Maniche, Derlei (two) and Helder Postiga make the Portuguese side favourites to reach the final in Seville.