They did not go gentle into that good night.

The curtain was always coming down, but Celtic raged against the dying of the light as they went toe-to-toe with Manchester City in the Etihad last night.

It was another pulsating encounter between the two teams and while it did not have the same goal drama as the game in Glasgow, there was no let up as both slugged it out looking for all three points.

There was nothing inhibited about Celtic as they looked to bow out of the competition in good grace.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers praises Patrick Roberts for keeping his cool

Goals from Patrick Roberts and Kelechi Iheanacho in the opening stages set the tone for what was an open and intriguing contest between two teams of significantly different weights; City's assembled starting XI saw three graduates from the club’s youth academy but still cost £112m to put together, a fact that became more eye-watering at the realisation Guardiola’s bench, Sergio Aguero and all, tallied £131.5m. Celtic's squad totalled in at £15m.

There was Pep Guardiola, all skinny jeans and high tops to Brendan Rodgers’ suited and booted look. Manchester City could afford to be casual and yet, there was nothing relaxed about this affair.

It was a full bloodied encounter as both sides went for the jugular.

Celtic, to their credit, were brave on the ball, looking to force chances of their own and set the pace against City.

There was irony, too, of course.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers praises Patrick Roberts for keeping his cool

Roberts seemed to be in the liveliest form we have seen for some time when given the chance to impress against his parent club.

It was the winger who opened the scoring with just four minutes on the clock when he weaved his way past Gael Clichy on the flank, forced himself into the box and curled a shot in past Willy Caballero. He would have had a more lasting impression on this game had he won a spot-kick just as the teams were heading into the interval.

Roberts was pulled back by Clichy as he looked to break into the box, with the full-back guilty of two hands around the 19-year-old as he bore forward.

The winger stopped in exasperation with no sanction awarded against the Manchester City player, to his and Mikael Lustig’s chagrin. The Swede went into the book for the visceral nature of his protests, complaints that were still ongoing as Celtic made their way into the dressing room.

By that stage parity was a fair reflection of the contest.

Celtic’s lead had not lasted for long. When City levelled the scoring six minutes after Roberts’ opener both Jozo Simunovic and Craig Gordon might have cause to reflect that they could have done better.

In fairness to the Celtic keeper, there was ferocious power in the strike from Iheanacho and from there the stage was set for another frantic night of to-ing and fro-ing.

City would have felt that they had the better of the chances in that opening period but Celtic gave an impressive account of themselves.

Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko lived dangerously at times with the space between the two defenders gleefully exploited by the pace of City at times, highlighted when Pablo Zabaleta sent Iheanacho thundering through the Celtic defence shortly after the Premier League side had levelled.

In saying that, Sviatchenko had one diving header to block a dangerous cross early in the second period as he threw himself at everything that came his way in his own box.

Nolito, in the middle of the park, sat deep but pulled the strings, collecting the ball, spinning into space and repeatedly hitting the killer pass.

Not that it was all City. Celtic did not try to contain the hosts but rather attempted to go at them whenever they got the opportunity.

Forrest, Scott Brown, Tom Rogic, Stuart Armstrong and Roberts all caused problems for the English side although Moussa Dembele was not in the same clinical frame of mind he was when the teams met earlier in the tournament.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers praises Patrick Roberts for keeping his cool

The French striker could and should have done better when he was put through by the effervescent James Forrest. His first attempt was parried by Caballero but his second, with the keeper stranded, was straight into the side netting.

Celtic’s rhythm was interrupted just minutes after the restart when Forrest pulled up on the halfway line and his evening was prematurely curtailed. It was unfortunate for both player and team given that his strength and power had been integral to Celtic’s forward incursions.

Gary Mackay-Steven arrived, an indication perhaps of the relative paucity of Celtic’s bench. The winger’s arrival was his first appearance since April, and his inaugural appearance under Rodgers. With a little more composure, however, he could have been the hero of the night as the game drew to a close and he had one shot clawed away by Caballero after being put through by fellow sub, Leigh Griffiths.

There was relief when that determination to pour forward was not penalised when Nolito had the ball in the back of the net, only for the effort to be ruled – correctly – offside.

Griffiths replaced Dembele with less than 20 minutes of regulation time to play and he too had a decent chance which he screwed just wide of the upright.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers praises Patrick Roberts for keeping his cool

City felt they should have had a spot-kick when Simunovic's sliding tackle on Leroy Sane came off his arms but it would have been a harsh return on the effort Celtic had put into the 90 minutes.

There was much from last night’s efforts to take satisfaction from for Rodgers. Rogic is maturing into the player he has always hinted he could be, while Armstrong has been revolutionised this season.

It has not ended as they would have wished but two successive away games without defeat suggests the beginning of a new narrative for Celtic under Rodgers.