Nine-man Celtic lose to Feyenoord in chaotic opener

BBC SPORT

Celtic’s quest for a rare Champions League away victory goes on after having two men sent off in a second-half implosion to hand top seeds Feyenoord an opening group win.

It was a night that began with such promise, as Brendan Rodgers’ side started brightly, but it ended with another painful European defeat that leaves them bottom of the group after Lazio and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 in Rome.

Things began to go wrong after a mature and composed opening half, when a long-range Calvin Stengs free-kick pierced the defensive wall and skimmed beyond Joe Hart.

The goalkeeper might have done better. The defensive wall might have too. Celtic never quite recovered.

The goal lifted the Dutch champions, who had struggled until then, and they capitalised in the second half as Celtic’s night completely unravelled.

Gustaf Lagerbielke conceded a penalty for a tug in the box on Igor Paixao and was shown a second yellow card, before Hart offered some hope with a great save from Paixao’s spot-kick.

The task become too great, though, when substitute Odin Thiago Holm crashed wildly into a tackle and earned a straight red.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh then made sure of Feyenoord’s win after being gifted time and space to finish emphatically.

It was the least the Dutch deserved, with further efforts disallowed either side of that goal as Celtic hung on. Ultimately, they got away with not losing by a bigger margin.

Lazio come to Glasgow next. An already daunting challenge suddenly looks even tougher.

Player of the match – Calvin Stengs (Feyenoord)

Major lessons need to be learned – analysis

The timing of the opener was such a hammer blow for Celtic. To that point they had more than matched their opponents, who struggled to engineer consistent pressure.

Celtic had a good balance of being fairly solid, with a decent shape, composed on the ball in the main and carrying some threat. They had chances and one or two better decisions may have paid dividends.

Daizen Maeda had two good opportunities, the first after after great work from Matt O’Riley, and Reo Hatate’s shot was blocked.

But the opening goal was absolutely crucial. Feyenoord returned with more purpose and tempo after half-time. It counted and Celtic’s night utterly fell apart.

With nine men on the pitch it looked like a mission…