| Match Pictures | Matches: 2001 – 2002 | 2001-02 Pictures | European Cup |
Trivia
- Scoreline says it all. A punishing defeat.
- Celtic were to face Porto in the next season in the UEFA Cup final, with Porto coming out on top in that match.
- Martin O’Neill in 2022: “If I went back to my first year when we played Porto, we went there and we played the three at the back,” O’Neill recalled. “For the first time, they pushed all three up against us. They played the game just outside our penalty area. Essentially, you could have forgotten about the rest of the game – it was three versus three. You talk about learning lessons from that and having a different approach. It made me start thinking about things.”
Review
Teams
FC Porto:-
Ovchinnikov; Ibarra, Mario Silva, Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Costinha (Soderstrom, 81), Paredes, Deco, Clayton (Rubens Junior, 75), Capucho (Paulo Costa, 85), Jesus Pena.
Substitutes:- Santos (gk), Alenichev, Ricardo Silva, Helder.
FC Porto scorers:- Clayton (1, 61), Mario Silva (45+1)
Bookings:- Costinha, Clayton
Celtic:-
Douglas; Mjallby, Balde, Valgaeren, Agathe, Lambert, Lennon, Petrov (Sylla, 66), Thompson (Moravcik, 55), Larsson, Hartson (Maloney, 87).
Substitutes:- Kharin (gk), McNamara, Tébily, Healy.
Referee:– R Temmink (Netherlands).
Att:- 30,303
Articles
- Match Report
Pictures
Stats
| Porto | Celtic | |
| 3 | Goals scored | 0 |
| 2 | Yellow card | 0 |
| 0 | Red card | 0 |
| 8 | Shots on goal | 0 |
| 10 | Shots wide | 5 |
| 15 | Fouls committed | 24 |
| 4 | Corners | 5 |
| 5 | Offsides | 3 |
| 24′ 22” | Ball. Poss. (time) | 23′ 26” |
| 50% | Ball. Poss. (%) | 50% |
Champions League: Celtic caught in Porto storm
Wasted opportunity: John Hartson was unable to profit from his inclusion in the team
By Roddy Forsyth in Oporto, Telegraph
9:50PM BST 17 Oct 2001
Porto (2) 3 Celtic (0) 0
CELTIC’S genteel progress through their first every Champions League campaign – which had seen them lead Group E midway going into this game – was harshly halted when they were mugged by an irrepressible Porto side.
Porto took the lead almost from the kick-off and never showed any sign of relinquishing their advantage.
Two goals from Clayton and another Mario Silva saw them leapfrog Martin O’Neill’s players, who now drop to third place in the group table and must take something from their visit to Trondheim to play Rosenborg next week or be forced to hope that they can prevail over Juventus in Glasgow on the final match day.
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Celtic’s small consolation on an evening when they were taught condign lessons about life at this level of the game was that Rosenborg’s defeat in the Stadio delle Alpi means that the Norwegian champions are almost out of contention, which means that the UEFA Cup can still offer a soft landing if Celtic fail to achieve one of the two automatic qualifying places.
Despite what had appeared to be ambivalence on the part of O’Neill, the Celtic manager, on whether John Hartson would replace Chris Sutton – who had been left at home suffering from a virus – the Welsh international forward was duly selected to partner Henrik Larsson in attack.
Hartson, who had not set the heather on fire, or even caused it to smoulder, since his move to Glasgow, has looked a discomfited figure in his role as understudy to Sutton.
However, he could not have asked for a better opportunity to parade his credentials than a Champions League fixture which marked the start of the second phase of Celtic’s first assault on the group stage of the competition.
Porto are trailing Boavista in the Portuguese championship and although their coach, Octavio Machado, is not in immediate peril, the Porto fans have already begun to signal their displeasure at what they see as slow progress under the new man.
However, Machado’s critics were silenced within two minutes of the start of this contest and the large and vocal Celtic support gathered to one side of Rab Douglas’s goal had all too clear a view of the damage.
Pena, gathering possession in central midfield, shuttled the ball wide left to the rangy Capucho who alertly pumped a cross into the gap at the back of the penalty area, left open as Celtic were sucked out towards the right.
Clayton was pushing smartly into the danger zone but, even so, Bobo Balde might have cut out the menace. Instead, the Frenchman seemed bemused by the flight of the ball and his jump never looked convincing as Clayton stopped to head between Douglas and his right-hand post.
It was as bad a start to the proceedings as Celtic could have feared and there was every likelihood that matters might deteriorate as Capucho was again allowed latitude on the right.
Once more Clayton was loose at the back of the area but this time Capucho’s cross was deflected for a corner kick which ended in Douglas’s arms. Celtic had the look of a cornered boxer, never quite sure where the next blow would come from and unable to do more than flail feebly in reply.
During the remainder of a torrid passage for O’Neill’s players, Johan Mjallby allowed a bouncing ball to drop to Pena, who wormed his way through the box before striking a low-angled drive which took a nick off Neil Lennon’s boot and went out for a corner kick just beyond the base of the post. The crafty Deco, too, managed to scoop a rising diagonal drive off the crossbar.
Eventually, the storm of Porto attacks subsided and Celtic began to make some tentative forays upfield but one fine move which released Henrik Larsson on the left ended with the Swede belting his cross wildly over the target.
Still, the Scottish champions appeared to have reached the sanctuary of the interval in good order when they fell victim to another avoidable goal. This time the blow fell at an injury-time corner which was cleared into a midfield void in the Celtic half.
Mario Silva was stationed there and, without a Celtic player near him, was allowed to take a touch before driving low past Douglas from 30 yards.
O’Neill must have had strong words for his side at the break and Ricardo Carvallo needed to head Agathe’s cross past the post with Larsson and Hartson lurking with intent.
After only 10 minutes of the second half Celtic withdrew Alan Thompson and replaced him with Lubomir Moravcik.
But the little Slovak had scarcely got more than a couple of touches of the ball when Porto went further ahead and it was again Clayton who inflicted the wound.
The Brazilian exchanged passes with his fellow countryman, Deco, and cut through the heart of the Celtic defence before lashing his drive off the underside of the crossbar and past Douglas.
Thereafter the stadium announcer repeatedly asked the Scottish fans to “stay in the stadium quietly until we are ready to let you go.” It was a message which seemed to apply all too aptly to the team they had followed to Portugal in such numbers.
In the other game in the group, Juventus defeated Rosenborg 1-0 with a first-half goal from French international striker David Trezeguet.
Trezeguet’s goal came in the 25th minute, as the agile forward dived full-length to meet a low, curving centre from Alessandro Del Piero.
THE INDEPENDENT
By Chris Roberts at Estadio das Antas Thursday, 18 October 2001
Celtic’s hopes of making progress in the Champions’ League suffered a severe setback here last night when they went down to a heavy defeat in Portugal. Martin O’Neill’s side slipped from first to third place in Group E, behind both Porto and Juventus. O’Neill had recalled Didier Agathe and Alan Thompson for Lubomir Moravcik and Mohammed Sylla, while John Hartson continued in the absence of Chris Sutton. Celtic were understandably in a positive mood after going seven points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League. But Octavio Machado’s Porto side were also riding high after their 3-0 victory over Salgueiros at the weekend. Celtic did not have time to settle before they suffered a disastrous start. In the first minute the home captain, Capucho, swung in an inviting cross from the right wing which went over Bobo Balde and the Brazilian striker Clayton emphatically headed past Robert Douglas from 10 yards. Celtic should have gone further behind in the ninth minute in an almost identical move. Capucho was causing the Scots all kinds of problems and again he picked out Clayton in the box with Johan Mjallby well beaten, but the Brazilian this time headed just wide of the upright. Porto again went close in the 18th minute when Clayton found Capucho down the right and his ball was taken in his stride by Deco, whose right-foot shot came back off an upright. Celtic’s defence looked liked being ripped apart every time Porto came forward and Deco headed Capucho’s cross just over the crossbar. Then, in first-half injury time, Balde headed Capucho’s corner out and Mario Silva hit an unstoppable right-foot effort past Douglas from 25 yards. Celtic pressed forward on occasion after the break but the Glasgow side’s hopes of staging a comeback were hit in the 60th minute when Clayton exchanged passes with Deco before blasting in a shot which Douglas deflected onto the bar on its way into the goal. The Celtic players were shell-shocked, but Moravcik curled a left-foot effort just past the post before Douglas saved Mario Silva’s dipping right-foot shot.