MAN CITY 1, CELTIC 1
Manchester City will be happy to have said good riddance to Champions League opponents Celtic.
Their season was going swimmingly well when they arrived in Glasgow having won 10 games on the spin at the start of the season.
But since that meeting, when City were held to a 3-3 draw, they have managed only four wins in 14 matches as their campaign has faltered big style.
City failed for the second time to defeat Celtic after they were held for a second time in a dead rubber in group C.
With City already through to the the knockout phase and Celtic eliminated, there was nothing riding on the result.
And it was an opportunity for manager Pep Guardiola to experiment as he gave starts to promising youngsters Tosin Adarabioyo and Pablo Maffeo who both equipped themselves well.
But it was City player Patrick Roberts, on loan at Celtic, who caught the eye scoring a fabulous goal to give the Scots an early lead at the Etihad.
The goal was cancelled out by a strike from Kelechi Iheanacho as both goals were scored in the opening eight minutes.
Guardiola was delighted with the displays of the youngsters saying: “It was good experience for them and they deserved to play and have trained good all the time.
“It was great to be able to give them a game in the Champions League.”
Guardiola added: “It was a good game for the spectators as both teams tried to play. It was a good game and I was happy watching it.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers described it as a “brilliant team performance” from his side.
That was borne out by the stats that showed Celtic had 16 goal attempts to City’s 10 with six on target to City’s two.
City made nine changes from the side that lost at home to Chelsea on Saturday as Adarabioyo and Maffeo won starts.
Adarabioyo featured as one of three centre backs alongside Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy while Maffeo was right wing back.
Pablo Zabaleta, Ilkay Gundogan and Fernando Reges were the midfield three while Iheanacho and Nolito were the front two.
Gundogan and Sagna were the two survivors from Saturday.
City’s new-look defence was at sixes and sevens early on as Moussa Dembele had a shot blocked by keeper Willy Caballero whose distribution left much to be desired.
And it was a poor clearance by the keeper that led to Celtic taking a fourth minute lead. His kick to Leroy Sane was awful as the left wing back miscontrolled enabling Roberts to win possession.
The striker, on loan from City, cut in from the right and found the net with a terrific shot into the far corner to silence his parent club’s supporters. It must have been a sweet moment for the young player.
City were quickly on level terms when Nolito released Iheanacho who fired an unstoppable shot high into the far top corner, a sweet strike from a well-worked move.
Iheanacho had a chance to score a second but snatched his first-time shot well wide when it would have been more prudent to take a touch.
And he also had a further chance late in the half when a cheeky back heel forced a decent save from keeper Craig Gordon.
Celtic might also have regained the lead when Dembele had a shot blocked by Caballero and fired his follow-up effort in the side netting as it remained all square at the break.
After an uneventful start to the second period, City made their first change just after the hour mark when Jesus Navas replaced Maffeo.
City had the ball in the second midway through the second period, but Nolito had strayed offside before converting a right-wing cross from Navas.
There was a show of solidarity from both sets of fans after 70 minutes for the 70 victims of the air disaster that wiped out the Brazilian football team Chapecoense as they lit up the stadium with their mobile phones.
Celtic had the chance to regain the lead when substitute Leigh Griffiths swept a shot one yard wide from just inside the box as he made a lively impact after his introduction.
And they had another glorious opening when Griffiths turned provider to release Gary Mackay-Steven whose shot from 10 yards was well kept out by Caballero.
City went close when a free kick by Sane flew narrowly wide of the upright.
And Sane might have won a penalty at the end when he burst clear on the left and Jozo Simunovic, sliding in to clear, looked to have handled, but out of sight of Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic.
It would have been tough on Celtic who deserved to pick up a third draw in the six-game group, even though they remained bottom.