Liverpool 0 Celtic 2
(Celtic win 3-1 on aggregate)
A stunning solo strike by John Hartson sent Celtic marching into the UEFA Cup semi-finals tonight after one of the most memorable European wins in the Scottish champions history.
The Welsh striker, who missed a last-minute penalty in Celtic's League Cup final defeat by Rangers on Sunday, redeemed himself with a 25-yard drive ten minutes from time to cap a 2-0 victory that put Martin O'Neill's side into the last four 3-1 on aggregate.
Hartson's goal could not have come at a better time for a Celtic team that was holding out grimly under intense pressure after Alan Thompson's free-kick on the stroke of half-time had given them the edge in a pulsating Anfield encounter.
Up until Thompson's strike it had looked like anybody's match as both sides enjoyed chance after chance, Liverpool shading it in terms of quantity while Celtic enjoyed the better opportunities.
After conceding a goal inside two minutes at Parkhead, Liverpool had come out determined not to be caught cold twice and the pace of Michael Owen and trickery of Vladimir Spicer quickly had their visitors on the back foot.
Celtic defender Johan Mjallby's tardy arrival for a tackle on Owen earned him a yellow card inside four minutes. But he quickly made amends with a goalline clearance after Smicer, drafted in for the banned El Hadji Diouf, had carved his way into the box from the left flank.
Alan Thompson provided Celtic's first hint of menace, firing over after Didi Hamann had gifted possession to him on the edge of the area. Hamann then set the tone for an exhilarating 20-minute burst of end-to-end football by meeting Danny Murphy's corner with a first-time drive from 35 yards that skidded inches wide.
Celtic's response was swift, Stilian Petrov winning a free-kick from which Henrik Larsson forced a good save from Jerzy Dudek. John Hartson then got on the end of a Paul Lambert free-kick to head inches over before Hamann produced an even sweeter strike - a 30-yard volley, that Rab Douglas did well to palm away.
But there was nothing Dudek could do about the goal Celtic claimed right on the stroke of half-time. Standing on the right of his goal line, the Liverpool keeper was left totally helpless as Thompson's low left-foot drive whistled clean through his wall and into the net.
Liverpool threw on Milan Baros for the last 35 minutes and the Czech international's pace soon created problems for a tiring Celtic side.
Larsson provided his weary defence with some respite a quarter of the hour from the end when he met Petrov's corner with a flicked header that Dudek did well to tip over.
Having been camped in the Celtic half for most of the second period, Liverpool's defence appeared to have switched off and they failed to heed the warning from Larsson and five minutes later Hartson made them pay.