Celtic 3, Manchester City 3: We ought to have won, blasts Pep Guardiola after Bhoys end Spaniard’s winning start to City career
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola declared his side should have conquered Scottish title winners Celtic despite having to come from behind three times to salvage a Champions League point.
City fought back through goals from Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling and Nolito after Celtic had repeatedly edged ahead with a double strike from former Fulham forward Moussa Dembele and an own goal by Sterling.
The draw not only ended Guardiola’s 10-match winning streak since becoming City manager but ensured they lost ground to Group C leaders Barcelona, who overturned a one-goal deficit to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 in Germany.
“We should have won,” said Guardiola. “I don’t remember any action for them after they scored their third goal.
“I’m happy with the reactions from the players, it’s not easy to score three goals away. It’s okay, it’s one point, we didn’t lose. Now we have Barcelona, maybe the best team.”
Celtic surged into a shock third-minute lead when former City winger Scott Sinclair delivered a deep free-kick which was knocked into the box by James Forrest and diverted past Claudio Bravo by the chest of Dembele from Nir Bitton’s close-range header.
But the Scottish champions were pegged back less than 10 minutes later when a scuffed effort from defender Aleksandar Kolarov was collected by Fernandinho, who slammed left-footed past former Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
Teenage full-back Kieran Tierney flashed a shot beyond Bravo, with the help of a decisive deflection off Sterling, as Celtic restored their lead, only for the England winger to outwit the Bhoys defence and calmly slot an equaliser shortly before the half-hour mark.
Moments into the second period, Dembele’s acrobatic hooked effort deceived Bravo as Celtic wrestled back the initiative, although Nolito slammed home after Gordon had denied Sergio Aguero.