THRASHED: Celtic ’keeper Kasper Schmeichel made a pair of costly mistakes to leave Martin O’Neill with few fond memories of his 1,000th match as a coach
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AFP, LONDON
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Vitor Pereira on Thursday made a dream start as Nottingham Forest head coach with a 3-0 win over Fenerbahce in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League playoffs, while VfB Stuttgart thrashed Celtic 4-1 to ruin Martin O’Neill’s 1,000th match as head coach.
Pereira became Forest’s fourth boss this season after agreeing an 18-month deal to replace the sacked Sean Dyche on Sunday.
He made an instant impact as the English Premier League strugglers powered to an impressive victory in Istanbul thanks to goals from Murillo, Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White.
Nottingham Forest’s Murillo, second left, scores against Fenerbahce in their UEFA Europa League playoff first leg in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday.
Photo: Reuters
Forest’s dominant display puts them in pole position to finish the job in the second leg at the City Ground in Nottingham, England, on Thursday next week.
“I realized before I came that the players have a lot of quality. They need results, but they need to enjoy the game,” Pereira said. “I asked them to express themselves on the pitch. They did it. It was a very good result.”
Perched perilously just three points above the Premier League relegation zone, Forest’s main aim is to avoid dropping into the Championship, but extending their first European campaign since 1995-1996 would be a notable feat for a club starved of continental success since the Brian Clough era.
Pereira had been out of work since being sacked by Wolverhampton Wanderers in November last year after a dismal start to this season.
However, being Forest head coach is hardly a guarantee of job security, after Dyche, Ange Postecoglou and Nuno Espirito Santo were all axed by volatile owner Evangelos Marinakis this season.
Murillo’s return to the starting lineup proved an inspired move by Pereira as the Brazilian centerback opened the scoring in the 21st minute.
Murillo held off two challenges before lashing a superb low strike past Ederson into the far corner.
Forest struck again in the 43rd minute.
Gibbs-White flicked on Elliot Anderson’s corner and Jesus pounced to head in from virtually on the goal-line.
Gibbs-White notched Forest’s third in the 50th minute, slotting home from Jesus’ pass.
In Glasgow, Scotland, Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel made a pair of costly mistakes to leave O’Neill with few fond memories of his landmark 1,000th match.
The 73-year-old, who led Celtic to seven trophies from 2000 to 2005, was beaten for just the second time in 19 games over two stints as interim head coach this season.
Stuttgart went in front after 15 minutes with a goal gift-wrapped by Schmeichel.
His weak clearance was worked into Bilal El Khannouss, whose tame shot should have been saved, but somehow eluded the hapless Dane.
Celtic were presented with an equally farcical equalizer in the 21st minute.
Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel’s woeful pass put Atakan Karazor in trouble and his panicked ball hit Benjamin Nygren, who tapped into the empty net.
El Khannouss, on loan from Leicester City, restored Stuttgart’s advantage with a close-range header in the 28th minute.
Schmeichel’s miserable evening got even worse in the 57th minute when Jamie Leweling’s strike from the edge of the penalty area squirmed past his attempted save.
Tiago Tomas netted in stoppage-time to add to O’Neill’s misery.
Celtic have not advanced from a knockout European tie since 2004 and Stuttgart’s first-leg stroll leaves the Scottish champions facing a mammoth task to end that dismal run.
“It’s a tough evening for us. We were masters of our own downfall in many respects, conceded some poor goals,” O’Neill said. “I will think about all sorts of things, but Kasper has done really well since I’ve arrived at the club.”
Criticizing a fan protest against Celtic’s owners that disrupted the opening minute of the game, O’Neill added: “Anyone who thinks that is a good idea needs their head examined.”
In other first-leg ties, Franklin Tebo fired Red Star Belgrade to a 1-0 win at Lille OSC and Santiago Castro gave Bologna a 1-0 win at SK Brann.
Zakaria El Ouahdi’s double inspired KRC Genk’s 3-1 win at Dinamo Zagreb, while Ludogorets Razgrad beat Ferencvaros 2-1.
Viktoria Plzen drew 2-2 at Panathinaikos and RC Celta de Vigo won 2-1 at PAOK.
