TWO-GOAL Moussa Dembele claimed Celtic showed their Champions League credentials with their 3-3 draw against Manchester City at Parkhead on Wednesday night.
Brendan Rodgers’ side went into the game on the back of a 7-0 defeat in Barcelona earlier in the month.
However, any trepidation they may have had facing the Premier League leaders disappeared when the 20-year-old French striker, who raised some eyebrows when he signed for the Scottish champions from Fulham in the summer, gave the Hoops the lead after just three minutes.
After Fernandinho levelled, left-back Kieran Tierney’s shot deflected off City winger Raheem Sterling, who then equalised again for the visitors.
Dembele netted his 12th goal of the season with less than two minutes of the second half played before Nolito levelled once more in the 55th minute, with City ending the night second by two points to Barcelona – who beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 in Germany – with two Group C fixtures played.
“As a striker you always want to score goals and I scored two and it’s good for the team and good for the club,” said Dembele.
“When I signed for Celtic I knew this team belongs to the Champions League and nights like that, fans showed us great support and I’m happy to get the result.
“When we play offensively we can cause anyone problems and that’s what we showed and what we need to do in the next games.”
It was quite an experience for City, whose 10-game winning run in all competitions since the start of the season – they were looking to equal Tottenham’s 11 at the start of the 1960/61 campaign – came to an end.
Indeed, Dembele’s opener saw Pep Guardiola’s side behind for the first time since he took over in the summer.
However, the former Barcelona boss was happy enough with the way his side played.
He said: “I am pretty sure the players didn’t think they were going to win every game this season. It is impossible. Not even the best team in the world (could do that).
“We didn’t lose. On balance the players did really well. We had the chances.
“It was maybe a good lesson for us, how important it is to start well.
“In the second half aside from the first five or 10 minutes we played well and we created chances.”
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