Urs Fischer's late equaliser for Zurich was the last in a series of disasters for Celtic, which started with the dismissal of their captain, Tom Boyd, at the end of the first half.

It had all begun well, and Harald Brattbakk's goal midway through the first half was an appropriate reward for the work Celtic had put into subduing opponents who had arrived with little confidence.

It was also atonement for the striker's miss earlier, when he slipped into hapless mode - a sweeping move between Henrik Larsson and Phil O'Donnell ended with the latter's perfect low centre.

Brattbakk, unchallenged, made contact as Marco Pascolo closed and sent the ball against the goalkeeper. It was a poor effort.

It was from Jackie McNamara's cross on the right that Brattbakk had his golden moment. The ball was deflected by the Brazilian, Francisco Lima, straight to the Norwegian, who first-timed the left-foot volley past Pascolo.

Boyd was ordered off on the stroke of half-time after Jonathan Gould completely miscued his clearance straight to Shaun Bartlett, who shot towards the empty net and Boyd stopped the ball with his hand.

The referee had indicated halftime as Bartlett took the penalty. Gould dived to his right to block the poor conversion attempt.

Celtic: Gould, Boyd, Mahe, McNamara, Larsson, Burley, Brattbakk (Jackson 74), O'Donnell, Donnelly, Lambert, McKinlay. Subs Not Used: Hannah, Kerr, McLaughlin, McBride, Burchill, Vaugh. Sent Off: Boyd (45). Booked: Burley. Goals: Brattbakk 23.

FC Zurich: Pascolo, Hodel, Santanna (Castillo 84), Bartlett, Lima, Nixon (Wiederkeher 45), Signore, Chassot, Fischer, Di Jorio, Taroni. Subs Not Used: Huber, Djordjevic, Iodice, Tronbini. Booked: Di Jorio, Signore. Goals: Fischer 75.

Referee: V Melnichuk (Ukraine)