Second legs hold the key

Each of the UEFA Cup quarter-final ties is finely poised after a night of first-leg action which saw both Portuguese sides lose by one goal and Liverpool FC record a scoring draw in their all-British fixture against Celtic FC.

Passionate encounter
In a passionate encounter at Celtic Park, the Scottish champions signalled their intent by hitting the bar through John Hartson inside 15 seconds. Minutes later Celtic struck an early blow through Henrik Larsson, though Liverpool found their composure and drew level on 17 minutes when Emile Heskey found the net with a left-footed drive to complete the scoring.

O'Neill confident
The away goal is likely to prove important, but the Celtic manager, Martin O'Neill, remained unfazed. "It looks like we have to go to Anfield and win," he said of next Thursday's return. "But why not? We will certainly go for it, there is no way I want to go out in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup without having given our all."

Diouf apology
A game played in a tremendous spirit on and off the pitch was marred late on, though, when Liverpool striker El Hadji Diouf spat in the direction of the Celtic crowd. Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier, who substituted Diouf, said: "It is a shame that the incident has cast a shadow on the performance of the whole team. The player has apologised for his reaction. He realises his behaviour was totally inappropriate."

Serious matter
The Frenchman continued: "Whatever the provocation, he should not have responded in the way he did. Liverpool FC do not condone this action in any way and will deal with it internally. It is not the conduct we expect of a Liverpool player and we take the matter very seriously. All I can say is that the police have taken statements from El Hadji and some of the spectators."

Mancini 'pleased'
In Rome, S.S. Lazio had striker Simone Inzaghi to thank for their winner against Besiktas JK. Starting on the bench after recovering from a wrist injury, the Italian forward struck soon after coming in the 50th minute. "I am very pleased for Simone because it was his first game back from injury," the Lazio coach Roberto Mancini said. "It was a step forward for us today because we scored a goal, even though we created a lot more chances."

'Individual talent'
Mircea Lucescu, the Besiktas coach, was disappointed by the result, but believes his side can turn things around at the Inönü stadium. "Lazio played very well and attacked throughout," said the Romanian. "Lazio's individual talent helped them a lot in this game, but the result still keeps the second leg wide open."

Portuguese woe
On a disappointing night for Portuguese football, both FC Porto and Boavista FC lost their first-leg ties. In going down 1-0 to Panathinaikos FC, Porto surrendered their unbeaten home record this term. Emmanuel Olisadebe struck the only goal of the game with 17 minutes to play, leaving his coach, Sergio Markarian, delighted. "I have to congratulate my players for their courage and their resilience in this match," he said.

Veteran on target
Boavista FC were also undone by a solitary goal, the veteran Panamanian Julio Dely Valdés guaranteeing Málaga CF a lead to defend with an 18th-minute strike at La Rosaleda. Málaga coach Joaquin Peiró said: "We are in a good position. Not conceding any goals was very important. We knew that the quarter-final was going to be very difficult but I believe that the team is going to respond in Porto."