Celtic off to winning Champions League start with 5-1 thrashing of Slovan

(Reuters) - Celtic kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 5-1 home thrashing of debutants Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.

Celtic went ahead after 17 minutes through Liam Scales' powerful close-range header from a corner, while Kyogo Furuhashi doubled their advantage two minutes after the break with a tap-in off Nicolas-Gerrit Kuehn's cross.

Arne Engels made it 3-0 from the penalty spot following a Danylo Ihnatenko foul on Alistair Johnston in the 56th before Kevin Wimmer pulled one back for the visitors with a superb volley into the far corner five minutes later.

Daizen Maeda restored Celtic's three-goal advantage as he beat goalkeeper Dominik Takac from a pass from fellow Japan international Reo Hatate in the 70th and substitute Adam Idah sealed the rout with a simple finish three minutes from time.