Champions League qualifying Round 2
1st Leg
13th august 2003

MTK Hungaria 0

Celtic 4

0:1 Larsson (16); 0:2 Agathe (35); 0:3 Petrov (68); 0:4 Sutton (90)

Att: 5,000

ref: Kim Milton Nielsen (Den)

Celtic
Douglas
Varga Balde Valgaeren
Agathe Lennon Lambert Petrov Thompson
Larsson Hartson

subs
Miller for Petrov 78
Sylla for Agathe 78
Crainey for Balde 80

Celtic began to exorcise the ghost of last season's debacle in Basel with a spirited performance against MTK Hungaria, who frankly looked a shadow of the great Hungarian teams of the past.

A pitiful crowd of around 5,000 provided support that echoed around the vast 60,000 capacity Puskas Stadium. All it needed was some fog, a bad guy called Zoltan, and Daphne and Velma as cheerleaders to complete the spooky atmosphere.

On the field, it was all over faster than Shaggy could say 'Zoinks!'. Larsson scored a stunning opener on 18 minutes, to make him the top scoring player for a single British club in Europe. As the Hungarian defence did the Magyar Mazurka in the box, the ball was allowed to bounce over the heads of two defenders and drop to Larsson. From 18 yards out, Henke lobbed the ball on the drop and over the keeper who was standing several yards off his line. Larsson's timing, vision and presence of mind were just too much for MTK, who just looked on in awe. To add to the spookiness, the Hungarian defence bore an eerie resemblance to our very own Sieve circa mid-90s.

A rearranged defence saw Bobo on the right, Varga in the middle and Joos on the left. Varga did a sterling job in Mjallby's absence, but Joos looked fraught, even at this level, as early crosses found their way into the Celtic box. To add to the danger Rab D was flapping at anything near him and looked at times as if he was trying to take off.

Fortunately, MTK were rank and Celtic were in control. Suttton in particular seemed to relish the contest as he battered the MTK defenders time and again. They just did not know how to handle him. Before long a Sutton drive had ricocheted off the keeper and was swept into the net by Agathe for number two. Rare as rocking horse jobbies, Didier's goals are collectors' items and it's a pity there weren't more around to see it.

The goal imbued Agathe with much needed confidence and he began doing his 'Road Runner' bit, leaving MTK defenders in his wake every time he got the ball forward. The half finished on a low, however, as Bobo got himself yellow carded for a stupid tussle on the line with an MTK player over a throw in. When will the boy learn?

Normal service resumed in the second 45, though a pitch sprinkler coming on mid-match threatened to spoil the fun. This apart, the game was a one way affair. Petrov and Thommo constantly ran at the MTK defence to good effect and the two combined for the third goal when Thompson weaved through the Hungarians more times than a drunken Govan Orc through traffic, before cutting back to Stan for the finish.

The fourth goal was a peach, after Larsson and Petrov, had came close to having sprung the MTK off-side trap on previous occasions. This time Larsson opted for a run and early delivery, which Sutton dived to meet and head into the pokey.

As a contest this was a non-starter but the Pound signs (all 10 million of them) will be swimming before the directors' eyes, as the passage to the Group stages of the Champions League is well and truly booked barring a disaster of Ibrox proportions. The worries, even from this tie, are that we are weak at the back and have a 'keeper who flaps at any ball higher than 5 feet off the deck. OFM needs to ring the changes before serious opposition arrives on the scene.