That was an electric match, superb entertainment. Celtic were outstanding - in fact, they showed outstanding character - and the only disappointment for them is that they allowed Manchester City to peg them back on three separate occasions. They just didn’t hold on to any of their leads for long enough. But a point against Pep Guardiola’s City is not to be sniffed at and, with Borussia Monchengladbach losing 2-1 to Barcelona, it’s enough to take Celtic third. They’ve only gone and ended City’s winning streak as well, showing the way forward for other sides with their pressing game. City are second, while Barcelona are top. Thanks for reading. Night.
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Full-time: Celtic 3-3 Manchester City
It’s all over! The Celtic fans celebrate again!
90 min+4: In comes the corner. It hits Fernando, bounces to Otamendi ... he stabs it over! The Celtic fans cheer!
90 min+3: Zabaleta curls a teaser into the six-yard box. City players are lining up to head it in, but the heroic Toure heads it over the bar. One last corner.
90 min+1: Sterling burns past a couple of Celtic defenders and finds Gundogan on the edge of the area. His fierce shot takes a deflection but Gordon adjusts superbly to push it over! Sviatchenko has cramp. Celtic have given everything. Guardiola was raging at the fourth official earlier. There are going to be three added minutes.
89 min: Celtic struggle to clear the corner and eventually Sterling’s volley is blocked.
88 min: Sterling darts into the area on the right and wins a corner.
87 min: The bad news for Manchester City, meanwhile, is that Barcelona lead 2-1 at Borussia Monchengladbach. Gerard Pique got their second.
86 min: Celtic are still holding firm. City haven’t really threatened to do anything for a while.
84 min: Celtic make their final change, Leigh Griffiths replacing Biton.
83 min: Scott Brown has given the thumbs up to the Celtic bench. Leigh Griffiths is likely to replace Bitton instead. Up the other end, however, Fernandinho lets fly from 20 yards and the ball whistles inches over the angle of post and bar.
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82 min: Scott Brown is hobbling after a clash with Fernandinho. His evening might be over. That’s the last thing Celtic need. Other than someone renaming them “Rangers”.
80 min: Patrick Roberts, on loan from Manchester City, replaces James Forrest.
78 min: Maybe not. City have a corner on the left. Celtic deal with it, though.
76 min: Are City settling for a draw? Fernando replaces Nolito.
74 min: John Stones replaces Gael Clichy. Kolarov moves to left-back.
73 min: On BT, Darren Fletcher is bantering Steve McManaman about not being able to find his goal for Liverpool against Celtic 19 years ago. Here it is.
71 min: A huge roar of support goes up from the home fans, trying to will their side over the line.
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69 min: A pattern has developed. Moussa Dembele is isolated, City are in Celtic’s half and Brendan Rodgers somehow needs to find a way to change this.
67 min: Arda Turan has equalised for Barcelona against Borussia Monchengladbach. Who needs Messi?
65 min: Celtic are pinned back now. They’re struggling to get out of their half. they must be exhausted.
63 min: Clichy hangs a cross to the far post. Aguero has peeled away but his header hits Sviatchenko and goes behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.
61 min: Claudio Bravo hoofs a ball forward to no one in particular. Pep Guardiola sighs.
60 min: Nolito tries to thread a pass through to Aguero. Kolo Toure is there. Who else?
58 min: It remains Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 Barcelona in the other game in this group. City top the group #asitstands.
57 min: Celtic make their first change. Stuart Armstrong replaces Tom Rogic.
56 min: Celtic haven’t been able to hold on to any of their leads for long enough. City have hit back so quickly each time.
GOAL! Celtic 3-3 Manchester City (Nolito, 55 min)
Sorry, Brendan. Aguero plays a stunning one-two with Silva and he’s in on goal. His low shot is saved by Gordon but Nolito taps in the rebound and we’re all square again.
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53 min: Sergio Aguero’s been strangely quiet tonight. Sorry, Brendan.
52 min: Celtic are panicking a bit here. Now Bitton barges Silva over on the edge of the area. Gundogan fancies this. Silva is there as well. But Gundogan takes charge. He rams it low, past the wall, and Gordon tips it wide.
51 min: Sterling, who has been one of the best players on the pitch, reaches the byline on the right and sends in a dangerous cross. Gordon flaps at it and it falls to Nolito at the far post. With the goal vacant, Lustig blocks his volley.
50 min: Back come City, though. Gundogan finds Nolito on the left of the area. He drops a shoulder, finds a yard of space and aims for the near post with his right foot. Gordon gets down smartly to save and hold on to the ball.
GOAL! Celtic 3-2 Manchester City (Dembele, 47 min)
Here we go again, then. The ball is worked down the left to Tierney, who might be offside. The flag stays down, though, and Tierney crosses. It’s not a particularly good cross, the danger looks minimal. But you’re forgetting something. Kolarov is useless. He takes his eye off the ball, completely fluffing his clearance, and Dembele improvises brilliantly with a swiped, spinning overhead kick that loops into the right corner almost in slow motion, Bravo befuddled by the shambles in front of him and rooted to the spot as the ball swerves away.
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46 min: City get the second half underway. Hello again.
Half-time: Celtic 2-2 Manchester City
Phew!
44 min: Sterling twists and tees up Gundogan, whose curling shot drifts wide from 15 yards.
43 min: City are shading this as the half wears on. Celtic have dropped back a bit.
41 min: “I don’t think Sterling’s composure is in question but his technique,” says Norrie Hernon. “If you watch closely he has this weird habit of hitting the ball with the ‘back’ of his heel rather than the instep, which scuffs the ball and can look a bit... lame. Still, he hasn’t done it this season - another Pep effect?!”
40 min: Kolarov endears himself further to Pep Guardiola by finding the top tier with a shot from 40 yards.
39 min: There hasn’t been a chance for three minutes. What are they playing at?
36 min: Zabaleta has a sortie forward on the right but shoots miles wide with his left foot. Meanwhile it’s Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 Barcelona in the other game in this group, Thorgan Hazard with the goal.
35 min: Rogic hangs the corner high to the far post but Lustig’s header lands on the top of the net.
34 min: Forrest tries to run Clichy on the outside; the City left-back concedes a corner.
33 min: On BT Sport, Steve McManaman is raving about Celtic’s positivity on the ball. He’s right. It’s great to watch. It will probably be their undoing but better this than sitting back and waiting for the inevitable.
31 min: A corner to City on the right. It’s headed out as far as Sterling, whose wayward volley from 25 yards is almost headed in by Otamendi.
30 min: Get this: Raheem Sterling has scored at both ends now! Ha!
GOAL! Celtic 2-2 Manchester City (Sterling, 28 min)
Some people say that Raheem Sterling has no composure in front of goal but they’re wrong and shouldn’t be allowed to talk about football. I present you this. Dembele sells Brown short with a loose pass in the middle and that’s all City require. David Silva has the time and space required to thread a pass through to Sterling, who’s dashed inside from the right Freddie Ljungberg style, and the rest is magnificent. Tierney has tracked his run and Gordon is out to close the angle. Sterling simply fools them both with a wondrous turn back on to his right foot and that allows him to roll the ball into the unguarded net. What a goal!
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27 min: Sterling whips a devilish cross into the middle. It’s a vicious bouncer, a horrible one for defenders to deal with, and Celtic look all at sea until Lustig heads it behind. From the resulting corner from Nolito, Aguero nods wide.
25 min: Ilkay Gundogan rams a volley against the bar. But the whistle had already gone for handball against Sergio Aguero. “Wonder if Joe Hart is taking an interest in this match and scratching his chin,” says Mark Judd.
24 min: Otamendi has a dig from 40 yards. Nope.
22 min: I can’t help but think this game will end up with City winning 5-3.
GOAL! Celtic 2-1 Manchester City (Sterling own goal, 20 min)
If you can, get to your nearest television and switch this game on. Out of nothing, Rogic charges through the middle, City’s midfield nowhere to be seen, Celtic opening them up brilliantly. Having reached the area, Rogic shows good composure to lift his head and feed Tierney. The angle is against the 19-year-old left-back, so he tries to drive the ball towards the far post for Dembele. He couldn’t have planned it any better, though. The ball deflects off the nearby Raheem Sterling and deflects past Bravo to restore Celtic’s lead!
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18 min: Nolito dashes inside from the left and tries to bend one towards the far corner from 18 yards. Gordon saves easily.
17 min: A lull. A lovely lull. It won’t last long. This is what happens when Brendan meets Pep.
15 min: David Silva misplaces a pass. That’s as rare as an occurrence as a Labour type saying something antisemitic!
14 min: This is thrilling end-to-end stuff. It’s impossible to take your eyes off it. Celtic’s answer to that City goal is to pour forward without a moment’s hesitation and the struggling Kolarov fouls Dembele on the edge of the area, to the right of the D. Rogic’s fierce effort flashes just wide of Bravo’s right post. That scare out of the way, it’s City’s turn. Gordon has to be alert to race out and stop Aguero from reaching a through ball. Phew.
GOAL! Celtic 1-1 Manchester City (Fernandinho, 12 min)
Celtic crack. Here’s the Manchester City response and we haven’t had to wait too long for it, although these first 12 minutes have flown by. With Celtic unable to push out and their heads frazzled after that burst of City pressure, Kolarov takes aim from 25 yards. His shot is dismal but it’s collected by Fernandinho, who rolls it past Craig Gordon with ease.
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11 min: Just like that, in the blink of an eye, City wake up and almost carve Celtic open. Aguero prods it through to Silva, who’s only denied by a superb challenge from Sviatchenko. Corner. Moments later, Sterling is in down the right and his low ball slithers across the face of goal, no one able to apply the final touch. Celtic are hanging on all of a sudden. And...
9 min: Remind me, why did City sell Scott Sinclair? He looks like a world beater here. Now he slips behind Zabaleta on the left and lifts a cutback towards Rogic, who can’t get his shot away in time. City survive. Just about.
8 min: Sinclair can only clip the free-kick into the wall. It comes back to Rogic, whose snapshot is deflected wide. The pressure grows on City. Zabaleta heads it away at the far post but Celtic have another corner. This is a new situation City. They’ve not been behind under Pep Guardiola until now.
7 min: City are all over the place. This is a cracking start from Celtic. Dembele, who is having a stormer, runs at the City defence again and he’s bundled over just outside the area. Scott Sinclair, a former City player, fancies this.
6 min: Celtic are all over City here. Another free-kick causes panic in the City defence, Toure heading down to Dembele, who holds the ball up well before ramming a volley goalwards. Bravo palms it behind for a corner. That’s a fine save and a crucial one because City are rocking.
GOAL! Celtic 1-0 Manchester City (Dembele, 3 min)
Have some of that, Pep! This is a well worked free-kick from Celtic, one from the training ground, though there is a hint of offside about the final touch from Moussa Dembele. Sinclair drifted a diagonal free-kick towards the right of the City area, where no one in orange of blue had noticed a late run from Forrest. He clipped it into the middle, where there was pandemonium. The ball was headed on to the unwitting Dembele by Sviatchenko, as Celtic players queued up to score, and deflected past the helpless Bravo! Dembele might have been 0.00001inches offside, mind you.
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3 min: A free-kick to Celtic, around 35 yards from the City goal. It’s surely too far out for a shot. It sure is. And...
2 min: Celtic are absolutely bossing the early possession.
Off we go! Celtic get the game going, kicking from left to right in the first half. Manchester City are in their change strip of orange shirts and blue shorts, because light blue clashes with green and white hoops.
Whistles and jeers appear to greet the Champions League anthem. It’s a disgrace! It’s a lovely piece of music.
A rousing rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone from the Celtic fans. A rare old atmosphere is building inside Celtic Park. But how long before Manchester City pour cold water on it?
Brendan speaks! “They’re all very tough games in the group but it’s a great challenge of us. We’re really looking forward to the game.”
Outstanding.
The teams!
Celtic: Gordon; Lustig, Toure, Sviatchenko, Tierney; Bitton, Brown; Sinclair, Rogic, Forrest; Dembele. Subs: De Vries, Simunovic, Griffiths, Gamboa, Armstrong, Roberts, McGregor.
Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy; Fernandinho; Sterling, Silva, Gundogan, Nolito; Aguero. Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Stones, Sane, Navas, Iheanacho, Fernando.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy).
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Preamble
Hello. Still reeling from being slapped around the chops more times than was humanly fair by Barcelona two weeks ago, now Celtic get the unenviable opportunity to stop the Pep Guardiola bandwagon as it rolls ominously into Glasgow. Ten wins and counting for City under Pep so far and it’s fair to say that they’re looking a mite more focused than they did under Manuel Pellegrini last season. Amazing what one managerial change and another £100m or so in the transfer market can do for a side’s prospects.
Poor Brendan Rodgers. His team’s looking good in the league, spanking Rangers 5-1 the other week and clobbering Kilmarnock 6-1 on Saturday, but if it’s not Messi, Suarez and Neymar in the Champions League, it’s Aguero, Silva and Sterling (although no De Bruyne, he’s hamstrung). Already it seems that Celtic are fighting for third place and entry into the Europa League with Borussia Monchengladbach, who were beaten 4-0 by City last time out.
Nothing’s ever certain in football, of course. After all, if you’d told me at the start of the week that Gareth Southgate would be the England manager and Phil Brown would be on ITV news likening Sam Allardyce’s sacking to a bereavement come Wednesday night, well, I’d have said “Gareth, let’s talk about the Pizza Hut ad instead”. But here we are, both of those things have happened, so why can’t Brendan Rodgers get the better of Pep Guardiola? You don’t have to answer that one.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST.
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