City survive six-goal roller coaster at Celtic
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
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Celtic halted Manchester City's 100% start to the season, with Moussa Dembélé scoring twice as Josep Guardiola's side fought back three times to force a 3-3 draw in Glasgow.
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Manchester City's winning start to the season ended with a six-goal thriller at Celtic in UEFA Champions League Group C.
Beginning with Moussa Dembélé's point-blank flick, Josep Guardiola's team had to come from behind three times, albeit Celtic never led for longer than nine minutes.
The tit-for-tat commenced when James Forrest met Scott Sinclair's free-kick, his volley being nodded goalwards by Erik Sviatchenko and in off Dembélé's chest. Soon enough Fernandinho controlled Aleksandar Kolarov's shot and slotted past Craig Gordon. But Raheem Sterling's deflection took Kieran Tierney's cross inside Claudio Bravo's near post to quickly restore the Celtic advantage.
The latter two outfield players were involved in City's next riposte, as latching onto David Silva's pass, Sterling turned inside Tierney and fired home. Seventy-two seconds after the interval Dembélé, remarkably and spectacularly, put Celtic back in the ascendant via an over-the-shoulder finish. However, Nolito ensured another short-lived lead, converting the rebound after Gordon denied Sergio Agüero.
Key player: Moussa Dembélé (Celtic)
What a summer signing the 20-year-old Frenchman is proving to be. Dembélé had several English and European clubs interested when leaving Fulham but, keen to taste UEFA Champions League football and having spoken to Brendan Rodgers, he decided his future lay in Glasgow. His brace here – the second an exquisite bicycle kick – took his season's tally to 12 and confirmed why he is so highly rated by the likes of Zinédine Zidane.
Celtic back on song
Rodgers vowed Celtic would not be as "passive" as they had been at Barcelona and from the first whistle the Hoops were on the front foot, harrying and closing down their more illustrious opponents all over the pitch. Captain Scott Brown had said Celtic stood back in "admiration" at the Camp Nou, but in front of their raucous crowd there was no such reticence as they snapped into challenges and initially unsettled the City stars. It set the tone, and although the Scottish champions had to accept the draw, it will still go down as another famous European night at Celtic Park.
City fail to heed warning
Although Guardiola had warned about the "intensity" his team were likely to encounter, for the first ten minutes or so City seemed spooked not just by the swirling wind and rain but by the vim and vigour of their hosts. Of course, the quality of Fernandinho, Sterling and Nolito meant the visitors were never out of contention, yet Guardiola may be concerned about the ease with which Celtic scored three. He said it would be a "classic" and it was. Guardiola won't forget his first trip to Celtic Park.
UEFA.com team reporter's view
Alex O'Henley, Celtic (@UEFAcomAlexOH)
This was a much better display by Celtic following their chastening opening defeat in Barcelona and will give them encouragement going into the remaining fixtures. Indeed, many feared a similar outcome against a City outfit looking to equal Tottenham Hotspur's 11-in-a-row English record start from 1960/61. That was never likely here, though the hosts still showed some defensive frailties. Even so, Celtic's self-belief will be much improved entering the double-header with Borussia Mōnchengladbach.