Celtic’s win against Feyenoord was a return to something which has become too unfamiliar nowadays:
An assured away performance in Europe. Many feared the worst when Ayase Ueda opened the scoring after ten minutes, but Martin O’Neill’s side responded with a strong performance.
After Yang Hyun-Jun equalised with his first goal of the season, outstanding pressing by Daizen Maeda gave Reo Hatate an open net to put the Celts in front.
Feyenoord put the pressure on after the break, but the result was sealed by Benjamin Nygren in the later stages, resurrecting Celtic’s Europa League season.
It was a fantastic performance which has now even been recognised by UEFA.
Celtic’s Europa League win vs Feyenoord recognised by UEFA
The victory lifted the Celts to 21st place in the League Phase, after languishing in the ‘elimination zone’.
It was also the club’s first win in the Netherlands since O’Neill himself did it in 2001, with that famous win at Ajax.
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Photo by Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
It caught UEFA’s attention as well, being named Performance of the Week in the Europa League.
That’s ahead of Nottingham Forest’s 3-0 defeat of Malmo, Lyon’s 6-0 win against Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Porto’s 3-0 win over Nice.
Celtic’s win vs Feyenoord named performance of the week by UEFA
Yang’s performance received praise in particular, after O’Neill handed him a rare start ahead of Sebastian Tounekti.
We also saw the midfield of Callum McGregor, Arne Engels and Hatate return to the form which looked so stellar in the Champions League last season.
Maeda also looked back to his best – it was a classic Daizen performance filled with energy and grit.
Positives all-round then, and something to build on in Europe.
Celtic’s remaining Europa League fixtures
The match was a fitting one for O’Neill, if it is to be his last European fixture, with Wilfried Nancy set to take over on Monday.
Nancy’s first European fixture will be a glamour tie at home to Roma, who are flying high in Serie A under Gian Piero Gasperini.
It’s then a trip to Bologna in January, in another challenging fixture. The Celts will be hoping to get one over on Lewis Ferguson, for obvious reasons.
It will conclude at home to Utrecht, in a match being billed as the long-awaited homecoming for Vasilis Barkas…
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