Chris Sutton rescued Celtic from abject humiliation in Finland, but two defensive howlers came so very close to wrecking Martin O'Neill's Euro dreams.

For the last few games now, the Hoops have been threatening to surrender their 100% record under their new boss - tonight it came crashing down around them against opposition who were no better than average.

Jonathan Gould will certainly have most to thank Sutton for since it was he who made the two crucial errors that sent the match into extra time.

Then again, going by the chances created - and missed - on another day Celtic could have run out winners by four or five goals.

Henrik Larsson missed a clutch of sitters, there were penalty claims turned down and Petrov and Moravcik saw shots crash back off the woodwork as wave after wave of attack went unrewarded.

And when Vidar Riseth and Gould combined to gift Helsinki the chance to level on aggregate, our wastefulness in front of goal looked like being punished.

Step forward Chris Sutton.

The big Englishman had endured a pretty miserable evening up until the 107th minute, but when he diverted Lubo Moravcik's volley past Yanni Vainder, he repaid yet more of his £6 million transfer fee.
However, tonight was an occasion when pride came above all financial considerations, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Celtic's came within a whisker of being shattered.

Yet in all honesty, Helsinki didn't look as accomplished as they had two weeks ago at Celtic Park, and the tie should have been dead and buried inside half-an-hour.

The first chance fell to Larsson when he robbed Veal Nylund and ran clean through on goal only to lob the ball over the advancing Viander - and the crossbar.

With Petta and Berkovic in the starting line-up, Martin O'Neill was hardly erring on the side of caution, but in the early stages it looked very much like an away goal would arrive to soothe the nerves.

And after 19 minutes, Celtic appeared to have won a penalty when Stilian Petrov went down under a hefty challenge from Yanni Viander after he had rounded the Finnish keeper.
However, instead of earning a spot kick, Petrov picked up a yellow card for diving - a harsh decision considering that the young midfielder would have had an open goal had he stayed on his feet.

Less than a minute later, the Bulgarian wonderkid turned his marker and drilled a low shot which came back off the inside of the post.
Eyal Berkovic reached the rebound first to set up Henrik Larsson but, after the Swede had jinked past his marker, he incredibly fired the ball wide from point blank range.

Celtic were looking by far the likelier of the two sides to take the lead, but with so many chances going a begging, the Hoops support were beginning to wonder if this wasn't going to be their night.
And that slowly developing sense of dread was only heightened when Helsinki took the lead five minutes before the break against the run of play.

Alexi Yeremenko chipped a seemingly harmless long ball over the top, but with the Celtic defence caught flat footed, Jonathan Gould was indecisive enough coming off his line to allow Paulos Rohia in to poke the ball into the net.

After the re-start, normal service was resumed with Bobby Petta undoubtedly the most dangerous player in the Hoops ranks.
With 58 minutes played, he did well to set up Eyal Berkovic, but although the Israeli's shot was struck with enough power, Viander got down well to fist it away.

At the other end, Rohia missed a golden opportunity to double his and Helsinki's tally when he slid his shot wide of the post after Sami had played him clean through on goal.

Nevertheless, Celtic were still the more potent attacking force, and with 69 minutes played, some clever interplay between Colin Healy, Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton ended with the big Englishman firing in a shot that Viander did brilliantly to tip over.

But then disaster struck.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, Vidar Riseth inexplicably slipped to allow Haarala a clear run on goal, and although Gould did well to block the initial effort, he then spilled the ball to Rohia who, unable to believe his luck, knocked it into the empty net.

With the tie now level on aggregate, Celtic had to come out fighting, and to their credit they did just that.

As the 90 minutes neared its conclusion, Larsson had a penalty claim turned down and Colin Healy saw a powerful drive fizz over the top, but extra time was needed to settle the tie.
Yet Celtic's super Swede, normally so clinical in front of goal, continued to miss gilt-edged opportunities, most notably when he stumbled with the goal at his mercy after he had rounded the keeper.

The introduction of Lubo Moravcik did, however, make a difference and he came within millimetres of securing Celtic's passage to the next round when he cut inside from the left and rifled in a low shot that smacked the face of the post.

Fortunately, with the dreaded penalty shoot-out looming large, up popped Sutton to net his crucial strike and end a nerve-jangling evening for all concerned.