Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored his seventh goal in Champions League qualifying Tuesday to help defending champion Liverpool advance to the third round with a 2-0 win over FBK Kaunas and a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Former champion Celtic was eliminated, however, losing 5-4 on aggregate to Artmedia Bratislava despite a 4-0 win.
Gerrard scored in the 77th minute, two minutes after entering the match. It was his seventh goal in four qualifying matches. Djibril Cisse added Liverpool's second in the 85th at Anfield.
PHOTO: AP
The remaining second round qualifying matches were scheduled for Wednesday.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez rested eight of the starting 11 from last week, when Liverpool beat the Lithuanian team 3-1.
Gerrard scored from 25m after a corner, and Cisse volleyed home a chip from Luis Garcia.
"We had more space in the second half and more pace -- and at the end 2-0 is a good result," Benitez said.
Liverpool, a five-time European champion, beat AC Milan on penalties in the final last season, but needed an special dispensation from UEFA to participate in this season's competition. The English club finished in fifth place in the Premier League -- one spot below the last Champions League place granted to England.
But after appealing to Europe's governing body, the team was allowed to compete in the first round. Liverpool then beat Total Network Solutions, the Welsh champions, 6-0 on aggregate.
The English team will play either KF Tirana of Albania or CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria in the next round.
In Glasgow, Scotland, Gordon Strachan got his first win as Celtic manager, but it wasn't enough to reach the third qualifying round.
Alan Thompson, John Hartson, Stephen McManus and Craig Beattie all scored the for the 1967 champions at Celtic Park. It still wasn't enough to overturn a 5-0 loss last week in Slovakia, however.
On Saturday, Celtic drew 4-4 with Motherwell in its Scottish Premier League opener.
Artmedia will next play either Partizan Belgrade of Serbia-Montenegro or Moldova's Sheriff.
Kevin Kuranyi scored in the 10th minute Tuesday to lift Schalke to a 1-0 win over Stuttgart and give the club the League Cup, a warmup event for the Bundesliga season which starts Friday.
The Germany forward scored against his team from last season, assisted by a backheel pass from Brazilian midfielder Lincoln, at the tournament which features the Bundesliga's top six teams from last season.
Schalke dominated from the opening whistle against Stuttgart -- which upset Bayern Munich in the semifinals -- until Kuranyi's 67th-minute ejection for a tussle with Silvio Meissner.
But the only dangerous shot later managed by Stuttgart was an 83rd-minute attempt from Denmark striker Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Schalke earned 1.845 million euros for the title.
David Beckham accepted libel damages Wednesday from a tabloid newspaper that falsely accused him of making hate calls to a former nanny.
Beckham's lawyer, Gerrard Tyrrell, said the publisher of The People newspaper had agreed to pay substantial damages and court costs and to refrain from repeating the allegations. The amount of damages was not disclosed.
The England and Real Madrid star, whose income is the highest in world soccer, had sued the newspaper over a story published last month headlined: "Becks phone fury. England ace plagues ex-nanny with hate calls."
Tyrrell said the claims were "completely untrue."
Rachel Glavin, lawyer for publisher MGN, said the company acknowledged that the allegations were untrue.
"The defendants apologize to Mr. Beckham for the distress and injury caused to him," she said.
Beckham wasn't at London's High Court for yesterday's hearing.
Beckham, 30, and his former Spice Girl wife, Victoria, also are suing former nanny Abbie Gibson for telling a tabloid newspaper that their marriage was on the rocks.
Gibson was paid ?125,000 (187,000 euros) for the story, which was published in the News of the World newspaper in April.
Tottenham
Edgar Davids completed his free transfer to Tottenham from Inter Milan on Wednesday after agreeing to contract terms.
The 32-year-old midfielder may play in Spurs' final preseason match against FC Porto on Saturday, the club said.
Contract details weren't disclosed, although British newspapers reported that Tottenham will pay Davids ?47,000 (68,053 euros) a week. That would make him the clubs' best paid player.
"I know everybody is very excited, he is a big player and the one we wanted." Tottenham coach Martin Jol said. "He wants to play for Spurs. All of our players are ambitious and know why we have brought Edgar in -- because both mentally and physically we need to go up a step or two."
The Netherlands international started his career with Ajax, where he won three Dutch championships and the 1995 Champions League. He also helped Ajax reach the 1996 Champions League final.
After a short spell at AC Milan, he had a seven-year stint at Juventus, with whom he won the Italian league three times and was a Champions League runner-up on another two occasions.
He joined Barcelona on loan in January 2004 and helped lift it from mid-table to second place, within five points of champion Valencia. He player last season at Inter, but fell out of favor with coach Roberto Mancini.
Davids has played 73 times for the Netherlands, helping it reach the semifinals of the World Cup in 1998, and European Championship in 2000 and 2004.
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