Manchester City 1 Celtic 1: Kelechi Iheanacho secures point for Pep Guardiola’s side and deny Hoops
Nigerian fires quick-fire equaliser after Patrick Roberts stunned his parent club
MANCHESTER CITY fought back to earn a 1-1 draw against Celtic to finish second in their final Champions League Group C match.
A familiar face opened the scoring as Patrick Roberts, who joined the Hoops on an 18-month loan from the Citizens last January, burst into life with just four minutes on the clock.
He collected possession out on the right, cut inside the box past several defenders before drilling the ball past the keeper.
The lead was short lived as Kelechi Iheanacho equalised just four minutes later.
Roberts felt he should have had a penalty moments before the break, but after the restart both sides seemed content to play out for a draw.
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FACTS, STATS, GOALS AND LOLS
- Two Man City fans were prevented from taking a banner into the ground proclaiming; “It wasn’t Fernandinho’s fault – Fabregas IS a pushover”.
- Fernandinho’s three-match suspension for shoving the Chelsea midfielder over an advertising hoarding would not have ruled him out last night – but he was already banned for a previous red card against Borussia Monchengladbach.
6Patrick Roberts stunned the Etihad when he fired Celtic into an early leadCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 
6Roberts struck after just four minutes against his parent sideCredit: Reuters - City boss Pep Guardiola arrived at the Etihad wearing a flat cap – surely proof that he is becoming an adopted Northerner.
- Guardiola’s footwear also attracted plenty of attention. He was sporting a pair of plimsolls that would not have looked out of place on a school sports day.
- The Champions League has not exactly been a happy hunting ground for Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers. He arrived here with just one win to his credit from 11 previous group games - a 2-1 win over Ludogorets Razgrad in 2014 when he was in charge of Liverpool.
6Kelechi Iheanacho levelled just four minutes later to earn Pep Guardiola's side a drawCredit: Reuters 
6Tosin Adarabioyo became the youngster City player to ever start in the Champions League for the clubCredit: PA:Press Association - Central defender Tosin Adarabioyo became the youngest player to appear City in the Champions League , at 19 years and 76 days old. The previous record holder was team-mate Kelechi Iheanacho, who was 19 years and 144 days old when he lined up against Dynamo Kyiv in February.
- At least Iheanacho is still City’s youngest Champions League goalscorer – he held that distinction even before last night’s strike, courtesy of his goal in the 4-0 home win over Borussia Monchengladbach in September.
- With City guaranteed to finish runners-up in Group C and Celtic destined for last place there was little to play for – apart from the 1.5million euros on offer for every win in the group stages. That was more of an incentive to Celtic than their moneybags opponents.
- There was a feeling of déjà vu as the home City side fell a goal behind inside four minutes – they trailed three times in the reverse fixture at Parkhead before salvaging a 3-3 draw.
- At least City could claim one of their players opened the scoring this time. They decided not to bar Patrick Roberts - the striker they loaned to Celtic – from playing against them, and he quickly made them regret it.
THE BIG PICTURE
MAN CITY'S NEXT FIVE FIXTURES
Sat Dec 10 - Leicester (A) - PL
Wed Dec 14 - Watford (H) - PL
Sun Dec 18 - Arsenal (H) - PL
Mon 26 Dec - Hull (A) - PL
Sat Dec 31 - Liverpool (A) - PL
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
Manchester City: Caballero 6, Sagna 6, Adarabioyo 6, Clichy 6, Maffeo 6 (Jesus Navas 62, 6), Zabaleta 6, Fernando 7, Gundogan 7, Sane 6, Nolito 6, Iheanacho 7
Subs not used: Aguero, Stones, Otamendi, Gunn, Angelino, Foden
Goal: Iheanacho (8)
Booking: Gundogan
Celtic: Gordon 6, Lustig 7, Simunovic 6, Sviatchenko 6, Izaguirre 6, Brown 6, Roberts 7, Rogic 6, Armstrong 6, Forrest 6 (Mackay-Steven 51, 6), Dembele 6 (Griffiths 73, 6)
Subs not used: Toure, Bitton, Gamboa, de Vries, McGregor
Goal: Roberts (4)
Booking: Lustig, Brown
SOCIAL SAYS
WHAT THEY SAID
Pep Guardiola (Man City manager): "I'm so happy, we played really well.
"The experienced players helped the younger players and it was a really good game.
"(On Patrick Roberts) We know his quality, he worked really hard and defended well and I'm so happy for him."
Brendan Rodgers (Celtic manager): “Brilliant team performance. We started very well and that led to a great opening goal.
“I was disappointed with the equaliser. We got stretched, which they can do. The remainder of the game, how we pressed and forced them to play long balls, showed great composure.”