Feyenoord attacker Alireza Jahanbakhsh says he was surprised by one part of Celtic’s play on Tuesday night.
The Iran international netted the Eredivisie winners’ second goal in their 2-0 Champions League win. Even before his emphatic finish, the game seemed as good as over with Celtic down to nine men.
A collection of errors allowed Calvin Stengs’ free-kick to skid into the net just before half-time. Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm were then sent off before Jahanbakhsh struck 15 minutes from time.
It could all have been so different for Celtic who arguably shaded a cagey, but entertaining first half.
“Yes, we had a hard time at the beginning,” Jahanbakhsh admitted to Dutch outlet 1908 after the game.
“We didn’t expect them to do so well in possession. We had more of the ball, but it was difficult. We had few chances and the first half was a 50/ 50 game, I think. Just before half time, Calvin scored a nice free kick and that made it easier.
“We started with more confidence in the second half. After those two red cards, we really started looking for the goal and killed the game with the 2-0.”
Reading those comments makes the nature of the capitulation even harder to take. Celtic had Feyenoord in a decent position and we had made an impression with our passing football. Had we gotten through to half time at 0-0, we would have felt pretty good about our chances.
Of course, there would have been no guarantees after the break. Lagerbielke and Holm may still have shown their inexperience at key points. But you get the sense that the stoppage time goal really affected us. It also boosted Feyenoord as Jahanbakhsh says.
Celtic now have to wait until mid-December for a shot at revenge against the Rotterdam outfit. The good news is that we will stand a better chance in Glasgow, and should have a better squad by that stage.
We just need to put ourselves in a good position over the next four matches, starting with Lazio’s visit to Glasgow in a fortnight.
In other news, Callum McGregor picks out one big positive from the closing stages of Celtic’s loss to Feyenoord
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