In their return to the group phase of the Champions League after a five-year hiatus, Feyenoord secured a victorious start to their campaign with a 2-0 win over nine-man Celtic on Tuesday.
Calvin Stengs opened the scoring just before halftime, and Alireza Jahanbakhsh added a second in the 76th minute of the Group E clash against the Scottish champions. Celtic had two players dismissed within five minutes midway through the second half.
In the 63rd minute, Gustaf Lagerbielke received his marching orders for a second infraction, as he caught Igor Paixao with an elbow to the face, resulting in a penalty for the opposition. However, goalkeeper Joe Hart came to the rescue with a diving save to thwart Paixao's spot-kick.
Just five minutes later, Odin Thiago Holm saw a straight red card for a challenge on Mats Wieffer. This put Celtic at a disadvantage, especially considering they had only received two red cards in their previous 72 Champions League matches combined. Impressively, Holm had only been on the field for a mere 10 minutes.
Stengs netted the initial goal with a splendid curling free kick, while Jahanbakhsh swiftly added to the tally shortly after entering the field.
Feyenoord could have potentially secured a more commanding lead, having not only missed the penalty opportunity but also had two goals disallowed by VAR due to close offside calls.
The loss maintains Celtic's regrettable streak of never securing a victory in the inaugural match of a group campaign.
