Miroslav Radovic scored twice to spark Polish champions Legia Warsaw into a 4-1 first-leg advantage over 10-man Celtic on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
Callum McGregor gifted Celtic an ideal start in Warsaw when he put the Scottish Premiership champions ahead on eight minutes, but the visitors’ lead was canceled out almost immediately by Radovic.
The Serbia striker then netted his second of the evening on 36 minutes to put Legia ahead, before things took a further turn for the worse for Celtic as Nigeria centerback Efe Ambrose was dismissed for a professional foul just prior to halftime.
Photo: EPA
Two late goals from Michal Zyro and Jakub Kosecki ultimately consigned Celtic to a heavy defeat that could have been even worse had Legia captain Ivica Vrdoljak not missed a pair of second-half penalties.
Hoops boss Ronny Deila gave a debut to Norwegian forward Jo Inge Berget, who joined the side on loan from Cardiff City on Monday, with Anthony Stokes on the bench after shaking off a hamstring problem.
The evening started in fine fashion for the visitors as McGregor, who scored on his competitive debut two weeks ago in Reykjavik, continued his fine start to his Celtic career when he drifted in from the right and hammered a long-range strike beyond Legia goalkeeper Dusan Kuciak after eight minutes.
Photo: EPA
Legia were back on level terms just moments later, though, when Radovic was put through by Michal Zyro, with the Serbian’s shot finding a way past Fraser Forster.
Kris Commons netted a league-best 27 goals in the Scottish top flight last season and the midfielder nearly restored Celtic’s advantage as he sliced through the Legia defense, before firing narrowly over.
Legia went ahead nine minutes before the interval when Michal Kucharczyk cushioned a header back across goal for Radovic to stab home from close range.
Kuciak dived low to his right to keep out a McGregor effort and preserve the hosts’ lead with Celtic suffering another damaging blow a minute before the break when Ambrose was shown a straight red card after taking out Kucharczyk just outside the penalty area.
Legia sought to exploit their one-man advantage after halftime, with Forster forced to produce a superb block to deny Zyro after the restart.
The hosts were then awarded a penalty after Charlie Mulgrew brought down Ondrej Duda, but Celtic were handed a reprieve as the subsequent spot-kick was put wide by Vrdoljak.
Undeterred Legia continued to threaten and were duly rewarded on 84 minutes when Radovic fashioned himself space down the right, before delivering a cross which was headed home by Zyro.
A disastrous night for the Scottish side in Warsaw then saw Mulgrew concede a second penalty after a tug on Jakub Kosecki.
Remarkably, Vrdoljak again failed to convert from the spot, with Forster guessing correctly and diving to his left to push away the effort, but Celtic were punished for more slack defending a minute into stoppage-time when Kosecki steered home a fourth to seal a stunning victory for the Polish champions and leave Celtic’s Champions League dreams hanging by a thread.
Earlier, Sebastien Corchia marked his LOSC Lille Metropole debut in style with a goal and an assist to earn the Ligue 1 side a 2-0 win against Grasshopper Club Zurich in Switzerland.
Zenit St Petersburg had Belgium international Axel Witsel sent off as the Russians slumped to a 1-0 defeat against AEL in Cyprus.
Turkish side Besiktas beat 1969-1970 European champions Feyenoord 2-1 in the Netherlands, while Panathinaikos, runners-up in 1970-1971, played out a goalless draw away to Belgium’s Royal Standard de Liege.
The return legs are to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, with the winners of each tie advancing to the playoff round.
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