Porto 0-1 Celtic

Jul 27 2008 Mark Guidi at Dragao Stadium

CELTIC ended their tour of Portugal on a high as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink bagged a stunning late winner to stun Porto.

Boss Gordon Strachan punched the air in delight as the Dutchman headed home to cap a fantastic 13-pass move from the SPL champions.

It sealed the kind of result he would have craved in the Champions League and gave the Hoops some revenge for their defeat by the Portuguese giants in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final.

It was a fiery contest and Scott Brown showed his worth with a powerful performance in midfield.

The Celtic star was booed by the home fans for his tackling and assistant boss Garry Pendrey also got in a row with the Porto punters and had to be escorted from the pitch by stewards.

Those Porto supporters were in a much better mood before the game as the club introduced 12 new signings.

Boss Jesualdo Ferreira has spent £21million this summer although Porto did rake in more than £16m by selling right-back Jose Bosingwa to Chelsea.

Culprit Strachan also has a fair amount burning a hole in his pocket but no major deals have been concluded so far.

A right-sided centre-half and left-back remain priority signings as the Hoops boss tries to shore up his defence.

And Celtic were on the back foot for most of this clash as Strachan used the 4-5-1 system he's likely to go for on the road in the Champions League.

At least the heat in the Dragao Stadium wasn't as fierce as it was in the Algarve where players were losing around half a stone during training last week.

But it was still an energy-sapping evening as too many Parkhead stars struggled to keep the ball.

Once again Massimo Donati was the biggest culprit. The Italian midfielder needlessly gave away possession on at least three occasions in the first half.

And one of those errors almost cost the Hoops a goal as Cristian Rodriguez ran in on Artur Boruc.

But the nippy striker failed to hit the target from 12 yards although Paul Hartley must take credit for getting back to make life difficult for the Porto star.

Hoops skipper Stephen McManus left Donati in no doubt that was one mistake too many.

However, McManus also lost possession earlier in the game when Lisandro Lopez took the ball off him before racing one-on-one with keeper Boruc.

The Pole got his skipper off the hook though as he narrowed the angle and blocked the effort.

The SPL champions didn't get a shot in until the 32nd minute and even then Aiden McGeady's effort was off target. But Celtic came close to snatching a goal when Barry Robson delivered a lovely free-kick into the box and McManus headed just wide.

Porto made seven changes at the break but Rodriguez - a £5m signing from PSG - stayed on and wasted another good chance.

He was played clean through on Boruc again but the Parkhead No.1 pulled off another fine save.

How Celtic striker Georgios Samaras would have loved a chance to put away. He was handed a thankless task up front on his own before being subbed in 63 minutes along with McGeady and Robson.

Vennegoor of Hesselink, Scott McDonald and Paul Caddis came on as Strachan changed to a 4-4-2 formation.

Bobo Balde then came on for Donati to play alongside McManus with Caldwell moving to a holding midfield position - a role he could occupy this season if a new centre-half arrives.

Celtic were more at ease with two up front and Balde headed over from a Hartley corner.

The game became heated late on with some tasty tackles from both sides - picking up from where it left off in Seville.

But Celtic had the last laugh this time as Vennegoor of Hesselink popped up to head home another Hartley cross.

PORTO Helton, Bruno Alves, Pedro Emanuel, Guarin, Lucho, Lisandro, Rodriguez, Mariano, Lino, Raul Meireles, Sapunaru. Subs: Ventura, Nuno, Benitez, Fucile, Rolando, Bolatti, Farias, Tomas Costa.

CELTIC Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson, Robson, Hartley, Donati, S Brown, McGeady, Samaras Subs: M Brown, Balde, O'Dea, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Caddis, McGowan.