celtic in control published: wednesday 30 july 2003, 22.01cet fbk kaunas 0-4 celtic fc scotland's 2002/03 uefa cup runners-up secure away success in lithuania.
celtic fc enjoyed a comfortable victory against fbk kaunas in the second qualifying round of the uefa champions league, earning a 4-0 away win to virtually secure their progress in the competition.
tragic loss before the match kicked off, there was a minute's silence for audrius slekys, the kaunus striker who was killed in a car crash at the weekend. once the game got under way, celtic began in impressive fashion, and neil lennon had an early effort cleared off the line before the scottish side took the lead after 13 minutes, with stanislav varga's header giving henrik larsson the chance to shoot into the net.
sutton strikes celtic continued to press forward, with chris sutton missing two chances before doubling his side's lead a minute before the half-hour, turning into the net after kaunas goalkeeper gytis padimanskas had mishandled a cross and bulgarian playmaker stilian petrov headed the ball into the path of the celtic striker.
instant impact celtic manager martin o'neill introduced scotland under-21 forward shaun maloney at half-time and the striker made an immediate impression, scoring the third goal within eight minutes of coming on as he slid larsson's pass into the far corner of the net.
late fourth the goal gave celtic a comfortable cushion and the scottish side remained in complete control for the rest of the game. however, they were forced to play the last twelve minutes with ten men after larsson had limped off the field with a suspected hamstring injury, celtic having used all their replacements, but were still able to extend their lead four minutes from time as maloney set up a simple tap-in for fellow substitute liam miller.
