Manchester City vs. Celtic: Score and Reaction from 2016 Champions League Match

Celtic's Patrick Roberts netted an early opener against parent club Manchester City as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League Group C dead rubber at the Etihad Stadium.

City had already qualified in second place and Celtic knew they would finish fourth in their group no matter the result in Manchester, but loanee winger Roberts finished well after an enterprising run to put the Hoops ahead early on.  

Kelechi Iheanacho found the equaliser soon after for City in an entertaining opening half, but the match eventually petered out to a draw following a less action-packed second period. 

Both clubs provided their respective lineups before kick-off, with City making a number of changes from their Saturday defeat to Chelsea:

The hosts started poorly, with Willy Caballero forced to come storming out from his goal early on and make a double save after a miscommunication. 

A poor back pass to Caballero put the Argentinian goalkeeper under pressure again in the fourth minute, and his clearance was cut out by Roberts, who skipped in from the flank past two challenges and fired home a lethal finish.

It was an ideal start for the visitors, but City levelled the score just four minutes later. 

Iheanacho—likely to be key for the Sky Blues in Sergio Aguero's upcoming domestic absence—was put past the Celtic defence after a neat exchange between Nolito and Ilkay Gundogan, and the 20-year-old smashed a left-footed strike inside the near post.

The Nigerian should perhaps then have put City ahead barely five minutes later, but he fired his shot from the edge of the box high and wide after Pablo Zabaleta squared the ball from the right.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Despite being so quickly pegged back, Celtic were not subdued and had the better of the chances in the opening half.

The best fell to Moussa Dembele around the 20-minute mark. He was first flagged wrongly offside as Caballero made a decent save from a low effort.

Moments later, the young Frenchman then found an open goal at his mercy after having another effort parried back to him by the City goalkeeper, but he could only blast it wide.

Celtic stopper Craig Gordon was forced into a save from Iheanacho as half-time approached and got down well to keep the scores level.

Per football writer Philippe Auclair, Roberts then arguably should have been given a penalty as he was held back by Gael Clichy as he drove into the box, but nothing was given:

After the break, City controlled proceedings, but there were far fewer chances than in the opening 45 minutes.

Nolito had the ball in the back of the net again for City in the 66th minute after an excellent cross-field exchange between him and Jesus Navas, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside. 

Celtic substitute Leigh Griffiths pulled an effort wide from the edge of the box 12 minutes from time having received the ball in space after Fernando was robbed on the edge of the area.

A fine Caballero save from a Gary Mackay-Steven effort then followed an excellent Leroy Sane run and square ball that could easily have ended up in the back of the net.

Sane showed another fine burst of pace into the box with three minutes remaining, but it came to nothing, and eventually the points were shared when the final whistle was blown.

Post-Match Reaction

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his side's performance after a fine effort from the Scottish outfit, per the club's Twitter feed:

Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola said he was impressed with the young players that turned out for the Sky Blues and credited Roberts for his goal, per BBC Sport's Tom Rostance: "I am so happy for the young players, we played well. There is no pressure on [Iheanacho], he just has to do his job. Patrck Roberts' goal was fantastic, he is a good player. We will think about him at the end of the season."