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GAME DETAILS
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UEFA Cup
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Attendance: 59,533
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alan birkbeck brfc
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gashead eric
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Uefa Cup round2 first leg. Celtic won 3-0 on aggregate
Record breaker Henrik Larsson gave Celtic first blood in the 'Battle of Britain' tie after Graeme Souness had seemed set to retreat south with a draw.
The Swedish striker scored with five minutes remaining in the UEFA Cup second round first leg at Parkhead to become Scotland's all-time top goalscorer in Europe with 22 goals.
Larsson and Chris Sutton - against his former club - were eclipsed for long periods by Dwight Yorke and Damien Duff at the other end.
But former Rangers player and manager Souness will wonder how his side failed to take a lead back to Ewood Park for the return leg in a fortnight.
David Thompson gave the home side an early scare after just two minutes when he drove a low right-foot shot just past Robert Douglas' right-hand post from just outside the box.
It took the Scottish champions some time to find their feet - and when they did Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel keep it level.
Larsson sent Didier Agathe away down the right, and he skipped away from the challenge of Nils-Eric Johansson before picking out Stilian Petrov in the centre.
But the Bulgarian's bullet header was somehow turned away by Friedel, how had appeared to be moving the wrong way.
Bobo Balde then towered above the visiting defence to get on the end of Alan Thompson's cross, but his header was deflected over the crossbar.
Friedel was again called upon to save his side in the 11th minute when Larsson got on the end of another Thompson ball.
Blackburn looked a real threat on the counter-attack, and Celtic goalkeeper Douglas did well to turn away a shot from Thompson.
The Blackburn fans taunted Celtic with chants of 'You'll never play in England' - but Thompson showed his old Premiership quality by outpacing Lucas Neill before being cut down as the defender earned the match's first yellow card.
Former Rangers midfielder Tugay was lucky not to follow him into the notebook after preventing the home side taking a free-kick quickly.
Duff was becoming more involved, and with Yorke coming deep more often than not Rovers were causing the home defence all kinds of problems.
A clever turn from Thompson, after some good work from Duff, left Joos Valgaeren for dead.
He pulled the ball back for Yorke, who had time to pick his spot but fired straight at the feet of Petrov from seven yards out.
Celtic's Thompson was booked for a foul before his namesake fired his free-kick straight at a grateful Douglas from 22 yards.
Any hopes Celtic might have had of an easier time in the second half were shot down at the start when Andy Cole appeared in place of Egil Ostenstad to renew his lethal strike partnership with Yorke.
Celtic found it difficult to get out of their own half - but they did have the visitors under pressure in the 50th minute when Martin Taylor could only head Agathe's cross into the path of Thompson, whose shot bobbled straight to Friedel.
Yorke found more space minutes later, but his left-foot shot was deflected over the top by Paul Lambert's desperate challenge.
Celtic's final ball was adding to the frustration of the home fans, who were relieved to see Balde get a vital block on Cole's goalbound shot.
The Rovers striker again gave himself a chance when he pulled away from his marker in the box to play in Neill, whose effort was deflected by Neil Lennon into Douglas' hands.
The usually clinical Larsson's poor control let him down in the 64th minute when Sutton fed him in the centre.
Moments later Duff came off and was replaced by England hopeful David Dunn.
O'Neill replaced Lambert with John Hartson in the 76th minute and pushed Sutton back into midfield.
Thompson tried to catch Friedel off guard, but his long-range free-kick was plucked out of the air by the goalkeeper at his left post.
Momo Sylla came on for Agathe in the 80th minute before Douglas pushed a swirling right-foot shot from Dunn around the post.
But just five minutes before the end Celtic took an undeserved lead thanks to Larsson.
Thompson headed Hartson's header from Thompson's corner off the line, but the Swede reacted quickly to push the ball in the back of the net from close range.
Teams
Celtic: Douglas, Valgaeren, Balde, Laursen, Agathe (Sylla 80), Lennon, Lambert (Hartson 76), Petrov, Thompson, Larsson, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Gould, Fernandez, Maloney, Guppy, Crainey.
Booked: Thompson.
Goals: Larsson 85.
Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Short, Johansson, Taylor, Thompson, Flitcroft, Tugay, Duff (Dunn 66), Ostenstad (Cole 45), Yorke.
Subs Not Used: Jansen, Grabbi, Kelly, Gillespie, Douglas.
Booked: Neill.
Att: 59,553
Ref: Hermann Albrecht (Kaufbeuren).
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Glenn
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Muzza711
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shoodoc
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