Bhoy Oh Bhoy, Celtic 3 vs. 3 City

“We had to come back from behind three times. The effort of the guys was amazing. To come here to Celtic Park is not easy”, Fernandinho – 29/09/2016.

Goals; Dembele (3' , 47' ), Sterling (20' og); Fernandinho (11'), Sterling (28'), Nolito (55')


Line Up (4-1-4-1) (match ratings in brackets); 

Bravo (6)
Zabaleta (5.5)
Otomendi (7)
Kolorov (5.5)
Clichy (6), Stones (5.5), 73')
Fernandinho (6)
Sterling (8.5)
Gündogan (6.5)
Silva (7.5)
Aguero (6.5)
Nolito (7), (Fernando (5.5) 76')


Stats;Possession, 39%/61%; Shots, 9(3)/24(9); Fouls, 8/8
Referee; Nicola Rizzoli (7) [Can't be blamed for lino missing the offside]

It has been twenty four hours since we watched what was nothing short of an explosive ninety minutes of football in Glasgow. As the dust finally begins to settle I’ve had this time to partly digest the whirlwind of a match, and wanted to share my thoughts with you. 

To get the obvious out of the way quickly. Could City perhaps have started Stones? Yes possibly, but he has played nearly all our games. Did we look somewhat shaky and panicked on the ball at various points? Yes. Did Kolarov and Zaba look lost for periods? At times, yes. However, if you are in the ‘oh my word, how did we only draw to Celtic, that was embarrassing’ camp, then I have to politely disagree with you, and here is why.

This was a possibly once in a lifetime fixture for the Celtic players. Playing against Pep Guardiola’s English table toppers, in the Champions League, in their own back yard, having previously been spanked 7-0 to Barca. You can bet that they were up for it. A "colosseum like" Celtic Park was ready for battle. The crowd were at fever pitch. Brendan Rodgers had a serious point to prove. This was always going to be a recipe for a tough night at the office. On the other hand, this also meant that this was a once in a lifetime fixture for the blue boys (or orange and purple to be precise).

If you were viewing as a neutral, then you definitely got your monies worth. You could sit back and enjoy the attacking intent from two teams at war. Could you class it as complacency from City, perhaps ignorance or even arrogance, which led to underestimating the bhoys? You can bet Guardiola will not sleep until he gets to the bottom of what went wrong. However, it's unlikely that the Barcelona thumping of Celtic two weeks previously would have led to all involved at City into a false sense of security. Especially as a few years ago, Celtic beat Barcelona at home. Strange things happen on Champions league nights in Glasgow.

So I applaud the grit that City showed last night. A grit and resilience that we as fans have lusted for during the last twelve months of never quite being 100% on our game. It shouldn't be forgotten that City as a club have not come back from a losing position at half time in the Premier League since 1995, and even through our recent glories the team have had bad days at the office, where fans had uttered the fateful words "typical City"; but this seemed different.  Not once did I doubt that these players were fighting to win this match. Not once did the players let the knock backs (including offside and deflected goals), or the occasion overwhelm them. And lets be truthful Celtic were excellent. This was a cocktail of passion and fight which led to a fabulous spectacle of attacking football. Two committed teams fighting for the shirt.

This was a unique occasion. I can’t see us facing a similar set of circumstance for a long time to come. Sit down and re-watch the match. Yes Celtic’s first goal was offside, yes the second was lucky and yes the third was individually brilliant. But let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture... City's goals were all excellent, we fought for a win throughout, and football was the winner.

@PatrickElano