ROTTERDAM-- Feyenoord marked their return to the group phase of the Champions League after a five-year absence with 2-0 win over nine-man Celtic on Tuesday to get their campaign off to a winning start.
Calvin Stengs broke the deadlock on the stroke of halftime and Alireza Jahanbakhsh added a second in the 76th minute of the Group E encounter against the Scottish champions, who had two players sent off in the space of five minutes midway through the second half. Gustaf Lagerbielke was sent off in the 63rd minute for a second caution after catching Igor Paixao with an elbow in the face, conceding a penalty at the same time.
But goalkeeper Joe Hart made a diving stop to deny Paixao from the spot. There was a straight red for Odin Thiago Holm in the 68th minute for a challenge on Mats Wieffer, putting Celtic, who had only received two red cards in their previous 72 matches in the Champions League combined, further on the back foot. The Norwegian had only been on the field for 10 minutes.
Stengs had scored the opening goal from a curling free kick and Jahanbakhsh hammered home his goal not long after coming on. Feyenoord might well have won by a larger margin as besides squandering the penalty chance, they also had two strikes disallowed by VAR in tight offside calls. The defeat means Celtic kept up their unwanted record of never winning the opening match of a group campaign.
