FC Teplice 1 Celtic 0Celtic go into today's fourth-round draw, but their passage was earned the tough way yesterday as FK Teplice won on the night but failed on aggregate.
And progress for Celtic came at a cost with the manager Martin O'Neill left worrying about an injury to Chris Sutton that follows hard on long-term problems with other strikers, John Hartson and Shaun Maloney.
"Sutton went over on an ankle and it's still sore. We'll see when we get back to Glasgow whether or not he'll need an x-ray," said O'Neill. "There is also concern over Jackie McNamara, who has a shin injury, and both are problems we could have done without ahead of our tie against Rangers on Sunday."
The Czech club surprised Celtic with a much more spirited display than in Glasgow last week and Jiri Masek's first-half goal made it a more fraught evening than O'Neill wanted. The goal also foiled his plans to give a few players a rest before Sunday.
A power-cut that delayed kick-off for 13 minutes coincided with a fierce snowstorm. This seemed to unnerve Celtic early on and John Kennedy, replacing Stephen Pearson, was booked for a foul on Emil Rilke after only two minutes.
Soon, though, an Alan Thompson free-kick that Thomas Postulka held settled Celtic and for a long spell they dictated the pace of the game. Paul Lambert, in for the suspended Neil Lennon, appeared to pick up every loose ball in the middle.
Only the occasional free-kick unduly troubled Rab Douglas - until the 35th minute. Then Teplice struck, although the goal owed as much to Stanislav Varga's poor headed clearance from Michal Dolezal's long ball as it did to any incisive attacking.
The Slovakian defender also fell as he attempted his clearance and he was still picking himself up as Masek moved on to the ball, took a touch and sent a blistering shot past Douglas high into the net. Tiplice sensed the chance of overall victory and it was Celtic who were happier to hear the half-time whistle.
The interval allowed Celtic to sort things out and Lambert went close shortly after the restart and Masek became the fourth of five home players to be booked after a silly foul on Stilian Petrov.
Generally, however, Scotland's champions-elect again looked in control of proceedings. Teplice occasionally threatened, but seldom with the same conviction they had shown previously.
However, Celtic suffered a blow after 71 minutes when Sutton limped off and was replaced by Pearson. The longer the game went on, the fewer risks Celtic took, and after 84 minutes Joos Valgaeren came on for McNamara to ensure things were kept tight at the back.
FK TEPLICE: Postulka, Leitner (Styvar 87), Rada, Tesarik, Verbir (Jakub Kolar 90), Dolezal, Skala, Hunal, Masek, Rilke (Ryska 74), Kuchar. Subs Not Used: Patrik Kolar, Sigmund, Kostecka, Vorisek. Booked: Leitner, Hunal, Masek, Rilke, Verbir. Goals: Masek 35.
CELTIC: Douglas, McNamara (Valgaeren 84), Balde, Larsson, Thompson, Sutton (Pearson 68), Lambert, Agathe, Petrov, Varga, Kennedy. Subs Not Used: Marshall, Sylla, Wallace, Beattie, Smith. Booked: Kennedy, McNamara.
Referee: T Ovrebo (Norway).
