Blackburn broken by Larsson and Sutton

Blackburn Rovers 0 Celtic 2 Celtic win 3-0 on aggregate

Football's Battle of Britain lasted three hours, six times the length of the Battle of the Boyne, and it will be recalled far more fondly in the East End of Glasgow.

Just as it had done 10 years ago when Rangers removed Leeds United from the European Cup, and in 1970 when another Leeds team of rather superior vintage was knocked out by Jock Stein's Celtic, a domestic spat went decisively Scotland's way. "The pressure was on us because of the big talk of whether Celtic and Rangers should come south to play," the Celtic manager, Martin O'Neill, reflected afterwards. "Two games are not enough to draw conclusions but Scottish football has done well tonight."

The 10,000 or so Celtic fans who found their way into Ewood Park and the 4,000 who came to Lancashire ticketless, some in buses in which 50 supporters had four tickets between them, drew their conclusions quickly enough.

Graeme Souness may have played down the importance of the Uefa Cup but, deep down, this second-round defeat would have stung. In his years at Ibrox he had inflicted more pain on the green half of Glasgow than anyone else in recent memory and, last night, they paid him back. When moments after the final whistle he appeared on the stadium's giant screens to explain the defeat, the Blackburn manager was greeted by howls of derision and delight.

Although Chris Sutton admitted Celtic had been given "a pasting" in the first leg at Parkhead, both O'Neill and Henrik Larsson, whose late goal a fortnight ago had given his team victory against the run of play, admitted they had been wounded by some of the criticism of their performance. This time, they made their point and, although Souness claimed that "tactics don't matter", O'Neill's decision to play Chris Sutton in midfield proved a masterstroke.

There, he was able to neutralise Tugay Kerimoglu, who had controlled the midfield in the first leg, and in the 15th minute Sutton provided the pass that allowed Larsson to break through for the goal which decided the course of the tie, although it required a slice of fortune.

The pass was intended for John Hartson, who slipped over attempting to run on to it, but so too did Craig Short and Larsson, taking advantage of a void that opened up in the heart of the Blackburn defence, kept his footing to lift his shot effortlessly over Brad Friedel. Those Celtic fans who had slipped into the home seats now ecstatically revealed themselves.

Blackburn were never allowed the rhythm which should have carried them forward to a decisive victory in Glasgow and hardly helped themselves by giving away possession needlessly. Despite all this, however, they might easily have scored twice before the interval.

John Curtis, who was sacrificed by Souness at half-time in favour of Keith Gillespie, provided the one pass of the first period which split the Scottish champions' defence apart. Andy Cole glided on to it but clipped rather than struck his shot, which clattered against Rab Douglas's legs.

The Celtic goalkeeper might just have got his fingertips to David Thompson's free-kick, a powerfully-struck effort which appeared to be aimed for one of three Blackburn heads, but which clattered against the top of the crossbar behind which stood a swelling mass of Irish tricolours crammed into the Darwen End. It was, however, as anxious as the Scots were to become.

Damien Duff, a Celtic fan "from the moment I first became interested in football", was smothered by Didier Agathe, so much so that Souness could not recall anyone performing as well against him. Only Thompson showed a desire to press forward and the introduction of Gillespie was an acknowledgement that Blackburn had been unable to find a way through Celtic's five-man midfield.

Larsson, threading his way into the box, might have scored again before Sutton settled matters in the manner which Ewood would have been familiar with. In the 68th minute, Stilian Petrov, whom O'Neill had dropped from last weekend's game with Dundee United for making unguarded comments about his contractual negotiations, drove in a fine corner which Sutton headed powerfully into the roof of the net in a style which had memories of 1995, Blackburn's championship year, scrawled all over it.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Friedel; Curtis (Gillespie, h-t), Short, Johansson, Neill; D Thompson, Dunn, Tugay, Duff; Cole, Yorke (Jansen, 65). Substitutes not used: Todd, Grabbi, Ostendstad, J Douglas, Kelly (gk).

Celtic (3-5-2): R Douglas; Valgaeren, Baldé, Laursen; Agathe (Sylla, 82), Petrov (A Thompson, 77), Lennon, Sutton, Guppy; Hartson (Lambert, 77), Larsson. Substitutes not used: Fernandez, Maloney, Crainey, Gould (gk).

Referee: C Bolognino (Italy).