Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic, UEFA Europa League: Hatate Inspires Comeback Win For Bhoys In Rotterdam

Reo Hatate scored one and set up another as Celtic earned a 3-1 comeback victory over Feyenoord in the Europa League.

Martin O'Neill's side started strongly but missed a golden chance in the opening 10 minutes to take the lead when a corner fell to Luke McCowan, but he rattled the crossbar.

They were made to pay for that miss when Sem Steijn beat the offside trap to square in Ayase Ueda, who guided a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel and in off the right post.

Yang Hyun-Jun levelled after Hatate hooked a looping cross into the far post, and the South Korean volleyed a first-time effort with the outside of his right boot into the roof of the net.

Schmeichel smothered another Ueda effort shortly after, and Hatate gave Celtic the lead in the 43rd minute. Daizen Maeda put the pressure on Timon Wellenreuther, whose slack backpass went straight to Hatate, who slotted into the empty net.

Feyenoord pushed for an equaliser, with Gaoussou Diarra rising highest to send a header against Schmeichel's crossbar, and Robin van Persie sent on his son Shaqueel as their search continued.

And just moments later, substitute Benjamin Nygren fired in Celtic's third off the underside of the crossbar from Maeda's pullback to move Celtic up to 17th in the table and earn their first away win in Europe in over four years.

Data Debrief: Celtic find their shooting boots

Before this game, Celtic, who are reportedly nearing the appointment of Wilfried Nancy as their new permanent boss, had netted just one goal from open play in the Europa League, but they were clinical to get their win on Thursday.

They scored from three of their four shots on target, with all of their goals coming from open play, and they secured the win despite accumulating just 1.15 expected goals (xG).

Feyenoord, meanwhile, had seven Opta-defined big chances, with four of those falling to Ueda, but he could not inspire a comeback of their own.