HJK Helsinki 2 - 1 Celtic (AET)

Aggregate: 2 - 3

The English striker stuck his long left leg out to divert a volley from extra- time substitute Lubomir Moravcik into the net 13 minutes from the end of a tie laced with doubt.

O'Neill's proud record of 12 victories on the bounce disappeared as Celtic once again froze in Europe. Worse, the performance underlined the old adage that if Henrik Larsson struggles, they all do.

HJK embarrassed Celtic with a display anchored in the sort of patience and discipline O'Neill constantly preaches, and made a mockery of their manager's pre-match claim that the tie died in Glasgow.

Celtic's first-leg lead - courtesy of a Larsson double on a good night for the Swede - fell apart with the defence reverting to type as Paulus Roiha stole a brace - the second of which was a real nightmare.

He had already outpaced the otherwise satisfactory Joos Valgaeren to lend HJK some optimism moments before half-time, then pounced as Vidar Riseth got himself into a total fankle near the end.

Things looked very bad indeed until Moravcik, astonishingly left on the bench to accommodate Eyal Berkovic ahead of the Israeli's upcoming World Cup double-header against Spain and Bosnia, came on.

Moravcik had been asked to pose for pictures beforehand by the Slovakian referee, Ladislav Gadosi. It didn't make the official predisposed towards his countryman's club, but it underlined Lubo's standing.

Hitting a post within minutes of entering the fray, he gave Celtic that vital missing spark which allowed an off-colour side finally to overcome opponents who would finish in the top six in Scotland, but not much more.

Finland cannot follow the same football calendar as Scotland. Even a cursory glance at the red, orange and yellow foliage which dominates the cityscape tells you their seasons come two months ahead of ours.

By the time HJK had moved two goals ahead and silenced the small travelling support, the sense that Celtic's green shoots of recovery were shrinking in this most challenging of climates was over-whelming.

Back in the starting line-up, Bobby Petta was nonetheless easily outshone by the 21-year-old winger in Helsinki's team, Peter Kopteff. He, at least, hit the bar after four minutes with a cross from wide-left.

Heliskoski had indicated Henrik Larsson would be too good no matter the obstacles he put in the Swede's way, but Larsson was finding it impossible to crack open a well-organised defence.

Larsson robbed Markos Heikkenen in the D just moments after Kopteff struck wood to secure a one-on-one with the Finnish goalkeeper, but his lob was not clinical enough.

Penetrating build-up play of the sort that saw Paul Lambert, Larsson and Berkovic lay the ball into the six-yard box for Sutton was also stopped by good defending, Toni Kuivasto clearing the ball from a yard off his line on that occasion.

Meanwhile, Kopteff was roaming between either flank and causing substantial problems.

The match would have been over had the referee awarded Stilian Petrov a 19th-minute penalty instead of a yellow card after good lead-up play by Berkovic and Larsson.

Goalkeeper Jani Viander dived at the Bulgarian's feet on the penalty spot and, although Petrov's fall was certainly colourful, the referee's choice of a card still managed to anger Larsson and confuse most objective observers.

Petrov turned away from Viander a minute later at Lambert' s through-pass and turned a clever shot back across goal which cannoned off the far post. The ball just wouldn't fall right.

First, Berkovic was thwarted as he tried to train a shot on goal, then, when Larsson did succeed, the ball spun past. A weak kick-out straight back to him was pushed into the side-netting.

It was turning into a frustrating evening for Celtic, with the threat of worse to come. Two blows before the interval underlined the sense of danger.

First, Tom Boyd was lost to a knee injury after being caught below the knee by the studs of Janne Saarinen. The injury needed three stitches but Boyd should make an immediate return.

He was stretchered off and replaced by Riseth. Then four minutes before the break, Celtic fell behind to a simple ball over the top of the defence by Aleksei Yeremenko for Roiha.

Valgaeren, who had again put hardly a foot wrong, was left behind in the chase and when Jonathan Gould came to meet him at the edge of his area, Roiha calmly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper.

Celtic have been behind before under O'Neill and carved out victory, so panic was not in evidence. Frustration was, though, as seen when Sutton kicked the ball away angrily as the break sounded.

Patience, O'Neill would have hammered into them. One goal, and HJK would still need another three to win. The push for the strike that would end the tie began immediately with Berkovic, Lambert and Sutton all close.

All three shots were saved by Viander. At the other end, Toni Kallio dragged a similar effort past. The potential for Helsinki to build upon their lead as Celtic sought to kill the contest remained in force.

Roiha has yet to be capped by Finland, but these goals may yet bring him into contention for a debut when England visit in 12 days time. He will not, however, rob Kevin Keegan's defence so easily.

Riseth was the guilty party as he lost possession to the substitute Hannu Haarala. Gould stopped the shot, but as the ball spilled, neither he nor Riseth were quick enough to clear from Roiha.

Nipping in to side-foot the ball in off Gould's left-hand post, the scoreline mirrored a famous Champions League victory here just a couple of years ago over another fallen giant, Benfica, until Sutton had the final say.

HJK are not currently at the table over Euroleague talks, but they clearly had no hang-ups about their lack of clout in the European arena.

Celtic, however, looked less secure.

HJK HELSINKI: Viander, Turpeinen, Nylond, Yeremenko, Kallio, Roiha, Saarinen, Heikkinen, Hakanpaa, Kuivasto, Kopteff. Subs: Wallen, Saastamoinen, Luiz Antonio, Kunnas, Haarala, Kokkonen, Yla-Jussila

CELTIC: Gould, Valgaeren, Boyd, Mjallby, Petta, Petrov, Lambert, Berkovic, McNamara, Sutton, Larsson. Subs: Kerr, Tebily, Agathe, Healy, Moravcik, Riseth, Smith