A ruthless Feyenoord beat an indisciplined Celtic 2-0 in a scrappy Champions League Group E encounter Tuesday with the Scottish champions hit by two red cards in the space of five minutes.
Celtic started brightly but never recovered from losing Swedish defender Gustaf Lagerbielke and Norway's Odin Thiago Holm to a straight red card for a late challenge mid-way through the second half.
Feyenoord's Iranian striker Alireza Jahanbakhsh sealed the win for the Dutch champions in the 76th minute, finishing off a well-worked move by smashing the ball past Hoops keeper Joe Hart.
The hosts had taken the lead with only one minute left in first-half injury time, Dutch international Calvin Stengs drilling a long-range free kick through a poorly constructed Celtic wall and beating Hart, who was only able to palm the ball into the side netting.
It was a bitter pill for Celtic, who enjoyed the best of the first half in which the Dutch champions lacked penetration, clearly missing prolific goalscorer Santiago Gimenez, who was suspended.
Lashing rain and wind did not dampen the spirits, with a capacity 51,000 crowd at the Feyenoord stadium in Rotterdam, better known as "De Kuip" or "The Tub", giving the Celtic players a hostile reception throughout.
Feyenoord came into the match on a superb run of form, unbeaten in the Dutch top flight and scoring at least five goals in their last three games.
"Unfortunately for us, we got the two players sent off and it's a difficult level 11 v 11, but 11 v nine is really difficult," he said.
"I think it's inexperience by the two guys, you've just got to let the ball run through, you don't have to be in the fight," said the manager.
But Rodgers was heartened by the "spirit and mentality" of the nine men left on the pitch, who managed to keep the score respectable, with Feyenoord having two late goals disallowed.
"Overall, I'm frustrated for the players because they gave so much, but the point for me was that their spirit was never broken," said the Hoops boss.