LONDON -- Liverpool will take on Scottish champion Celtic in an all-British UEFA Cup quarterfinal next month after Michael Owen guided the English club to a 2-0 win over Auxerre Thursday.

Liverpool had won the first leg 1-0 in Burgundy but needed Owen's 67th minute strike -- which also equaled Ian Rush's 20-goal club record in Europe -- to pave the way.

Danny Murphy added the second with a hit-and-hope long shot to ensure Gerard Houllier's men face Celtic, which had earlier lost 3-2 to VfB Stuttgart but ran out a 5-4 winner on aggregate.

Besiktas, Porto, Malaga, Boavista and nine-man Panathinaikos also got through the fourth round to claim a place in the last eight.

Liverpool, which faces Manchester United in Sunday's English League Cup final, improved on a scrappy first-half performance at Anfield against a French side which showed plenty of style on the ball but who struggled to create clear-cut chances, reported Reuters.

England striker Owen made no mistake, though, when he ran onto Murphy's neat backheel and tucked his shot past goalkeeper Fabien Cool, who followed up with a howler when he fumbled Murphy's innocuous 28-yard drive into the net.

Houllier, who spent a period of convalescence with Auxerre manager Guy Roux after both men had heart surgery in late 2001, pinpointed Owen's strike as the turning point.

"At halftime I told them to relax because it seemed the boys did not know whether to defend the one-goal lead, or attack," said the Frenchman. "But we controlled the game and once we scored the game was over."

Owen was on the same wavelength, telling the BBC: "It's satisfying to get into the next round. "I didn't think we were great first half at all, we couldn't create many chances. But in the second half, it was a different story and we ran out comfortably in the end."

Celtic, leading 3-1 after the home leg, virtually killed off its tie with goals from Alan Thompson and Chris Sutton giving it a 2-0 lead after just 15 minutes in Germany.