Celtic secure historic away win against Feyenoord
Martin O'Neill helps Celtic to a 3-1 win over Feyenoord in the Europa League, in what is expected to be his final European game in interim charge.
Celtic came from a goal behind to secure a historic 3-1 win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam ending their 15-game winless streak away from home in Europe. In what is expected to be the final European game for interim manager Martin O’Neill and his assistant Shaun Maloney, the reigning Scottish champions showed resilience after going behind early, turning the match around with clinical finishes from Yang, Hatate, and Nygren combined with solid defending.
Tonight’s win is Celtic’s second in the competition, lifting them into 21st in the Europa League league phase - keeping their qualification to the knock out stages alive.
O’Neill had hinted pre-match that this could be his final game in temporary charge, adding weight to the occasion. But it was Feyenoord, who drew first blood capitalising on a defensive lapse, after a precise long ball from captain Sem Steijn sliced through Celtic’s defence, allowing Ayase Ueda to fire a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel. It was a blow for Celtic after a comfortable start to the game.
But a reinvigorated Celtic under O’Neill roared back into life. Around the half-hour mark, a clever pass saw Reo Hatate hook the ball over to the far post, where Yang arrived perfectly to volley home from a tight angle past Wellenreuther, levelling the score at 1-1. Just two minutes before half time, Celtic swung the tie in their favour as the Feyenoord keeper was caught napping on the ball for far too long by Daizen Maeda - hitting his clearance straight to a waiting Hatate, who calmly slotted home into an empty net to make it 2-1 going into the break.
Into the second half, Feyenoord pushed forward to get back into the game, but Celtic nullified the threat from the Dutch side. Feyenoord had a number of chances to level the score with the best coming from Gaoussou Diarra striking the crossbar, before Callum McGregor cleared a Watanabe effort off the line - but Celtic’s defence stood firm.
With ten minutes left, Benjamin Nygren unleashed a thunderous left footed strike smashing home in off the bar, past the helpless Wellenreuther, making it 3-1.
As the final whistle blew, it signalled Celtic’s first away win in Europe since November 2021 away to Ferencvaros, ending a 15 game winless streak - and the first in the Netherlands since O’Neill’s 2001 Champions League win over Ajax.
Celtic’s victory keeps automatic qualification to the round-of-16 alive, with Roma next up on December 11.