The Bhoys are back while Vardar strike back in Moscow

Celtic look set fair for the third qualifying round of the Champions League after thrashing Lithuanian champions FBK Kaunas 4-0 in their second qualifying round first leg match.

'The Bhoys' Swedish striker Henrik Larsson had a red letter night as his goal equalled the British scoring record in European competition of 30 held by Leeds United's Peter Lorimer and Liverpool's Ian Rush.

However, he limped off in the second-half with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

The result of the night, though, was in Moscow as Macedonian side Vardar stunned CSKA Moscow 2-1 and look favourites to face Czech side Sparta Prague in the next round.

Chelsea, whose UEFA Cup hopes were dashed two years ago when some of their players refused to travel to Israel, may not have to go to the Middle East this time as Maccabi Tel Aviv lost 1-0 in Slovakia to Zliema.

Irish side Bohemians battled manfully at home to seasoned Norwegian Champions League contenders Rosenborg, before losing 1-0 thanks to a 35th minute goal by Azar Karadas.

Chris Sutton and substitutes Shaun Maloney and Liam Miller scored the other Celtic goals against Kaunas that makes the outcome of next week's return leg virtually academic.

But the match was played in tragic circumstances after Kaunas' 28-year-old top-scorer Audrius Slekys had been killed in a car crash on Sunday evening.

A minute's silence was held for him, but without his scoring prowess they were always destined to struggle and it took just 13 minutes for Martin O'Neill's men to take the lead when Stanislav Varga released Larsson who scored from 10 yards.

Former England international striker Sutton made it 2-0 after half an hour as his shot from the edge of the box took a deflection past Gytis Padimanskas in the Kaunas goal.

Maloney replaced Neil Lennon at half-time and eight minutes later the youngster was on the scoresheet when he found the target from Larsson's pass.

Miller then replaced Sutton and he made it 4-0 after 86 minutes when he made no mistake from close range from Maloney's pass.

Vardar weathered the predictable early storm from the home side as they twice hit the woodwork.

The visitors took the lead in the 54th minute when Vlatko Grozdanovski ghosted in past a static defence to shoot past goalkeeper Igor Akineev.

Their second goal in the 64th minute was a beauty as Brazilian striker Oliveira Dos Santos waltzed past a defender and fired in a terrific shot to send his team-mates into ecstasy.

However they may yet regret letting in the last minute consolation effort by the hosts substitute Dmitri Kiritchenko.

Vardar coach Zoran Stratev was delighted with the result but said he would not rely on the same counter-attacking policy next week.

"We will have to play differently next Wednesday, as while it was effective it is probable that CSKA will have worked it out.

"It is going to be very tough next week as even with the two away goals we are not through yet and the Russians won't play as badly again."

The match that looked to be the most mouthwatering of the lot between Romanian side Rapid Bucharest and Belgian giants Anderlecht failed to live up to its billing as it petered out into a goalless draw.