UEFA Cup Winners - 2002–03

The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and FC Porto of Portugal. FC Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei. This was also the first game to use the silver goal rule, although it did not affect the outcome of the game as Porto scored in the second half of extra time, thus meaning the game had to be played until the end of extra time.

Here FC Porto's lead did not last long after the restart as Celtic equalised when Henrik Larsson met Didier Agathe's cross to send a looping header in over the helpless Vítor Baía to get his tenth goal of the tournament and his 200th Celtic goal. However, within 5 minutes, it was 2–1 when Deco's through ball found Dmitri Alenichev who converted the cross. Three minutes later, Celtic equalised once again through Henrik Larsson when he headed in Alan Thompson's corner. After this the game stagnated until a couple of minutes from time when Jackie McNamara's errant pass found Dmitri Alenichev, however he shot it over the net.

Normal time ended with the game at 2–2, and extra time saw cagey football from both sides. Celtic were down to ten men when Bobo Balde was dismissed in the 96th minute after collecting his second yellow card. However, they could not hold for long, as in the 112th minute Derlei reacted quickest to a Robert Douglas block and rounded McNamara to make it 3–2. Porto managed to hang on even after having Nuno Valente sent off, thus ensuring that Porto had ended their 16 year wait for European glory.

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