Match Summary
A rash challenge led to Joos Valgaeren of Celtic getting a yellow card in the eighth minute. After this it was a stoic affair, until 32 minutes into the first half when Nuno Capucho played in Deco, but he could do no more than fire his shot straight at Robert Douglas. Straight after this attack, Celtic broke on the counter with Henrik Larsson putting Didier Agathe through on the right but his cross was too high for Chris Sutton. Larsson had a chance to make it 1–0 in the 35th minute but was unable to get enough contact on the ball. Porto came close in the 41st minute when Deco moved past Bobo Baldé to go one on one with Douglas, who saved Deco's shot with his legs.
Porto found a way through on the stroke of half-time. After some great work from Deco, Dmitri Alenichev's shot was parried by Douglas and Derlei slotted the ball in to give Porto a 1–0 lead. It was his 11th goal of the competition.
Porto's lead did not last long after the restart as Celtic equalised after 47 minutes when Larsson met Agathe's cross to direct a looping header in over the helpless Vítor Baía to get his tenth goal of the tournament and his 200th Celtic goal. However, within five minutes, it was 2–1 when Deco evaded a tackle and slipped a through ball to Alenichev who converted the cross.
Three minutes later, Celtic levelled once again Larsson took advantage of poor marking when he powerfully headed in Alan Thompson's corner. With Deco remaining a consistent threat, Martin O'Neill brought on Jackie McNamara in 76 minutes to nullify Deco's threat. In the 80th minute Bobo Balde picked up a yellow card. A couple of minutes from time McNamara's errant pass found Alenichev, but he could not find the target and shot over.
Normal time ended with the game at 2–2. Celtic were down to ten men in the 96th minute when Baldé was dismissed after collecting his second yellow card. O'Neill reconfigured his team by moving McNamara back to fill the gap in defence caused by Balde's dismissal.
Celtic could not hold out for penalties, as Derlei reacted quickest to a Douglas block in the 115th minute and rounded McNamara to make it 3–2. Porto had Nuno Valente sent off in the last minute but no further goals meant that they had ended their 16-year wait for a further European trophy.
Read more about this topic: 2003 UEFA Cup Final
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