In a largely forgettable encounter, the Kosovan added to his growing portfolio of stunning free-kicks to fire Patrick Vieira’s side to the win they just about deserved.
Thierry Ambrose hit the woodwork in both halves but, despite dominating possession, the home side had found it hard going until Celina’s 73rd minute free-kick at a rain-soaked Academy Stadium.
Norwich City arrived in Manchester on the back of three-successive defeats at under-21 level and faced off against an EDS side buoyed by their hugely impressive 2-0 win over Chelsea last time out.
The Canaries were looking to climb off the bottom of the u21 Premier League table, while City could move as high as fourth with a victory.
With Brandon Barker out on loan at Rotherham United, David Faupala was given an opportunity to start on the right wing, with young Lukas Nmecha on the opposite flank.
Kean Bryan, who so caught the eye at centre-back against Chelsea, reverted to his natural deep-lying midfield role and captained the side, meaning Tosin Adarabioyo partnered Cameron Humphreys in the heart of defence.
City started brightly and had the ball in the back of the net on seven minutes when Celina drilled a cross from the byline into the centre and Jamal Lewis diverted it past his own keeper but the goal was ruled out for a borderline offside.
Pressure was kept on Ben Killip’s goal and Tuesday’s UEFA Youth League hero Thierry Ambrose was the proverbial lick of paint away from giving City an 18th minute lead when his header from a Celina corner hit the the post.
From there, the remainder of the half was played out in the middle of the field with possession changing hands with more regularity than either manager would have liked.
Ambrose and Faupala swapped positions with ten minutes of the period remaining but the switch did little to enliven the game as a spectacle, thanks to the visitors’ dogged defensive outlook and a lack of a spark from the home team in the final third.
The heavens opened at the interval when James Horsfield replaed Ashley Smith-Brown but the pattern of the game remained in the early minutes of the half with City struggling to break down a well organised, obdurate Norwich backline.
Faupala bicycle kicked over the top after 50 minutes before Bryan produced a terrific last ditch sliding tackle to prevent Benny Ashley-Seal from opening the scoring against the run of play.
Vieira introduced Aaron Nemane from the bench with just over 20 minutes left on the clock as City looked for another angle of attack but it was Ambrose who produced, what was at the time, the moment of outstanding quality in the match a minute later.
The French striker managed to escape the attentions of both centre backs as he drifted inside from the left and curled the ball around Killip, beating the Norwich keeper all ends up, only to see his shot come back off the underside of the crossbar.
It was a brilliant attempt and deserved more but an even better attempt was to follow a few minutes later and, this time, the net did bulge.
Celina, who scored a stunning free-kick last time out against Chelsea, repeated the trick, leaving Killip grasping at thin air with an arcing effort into the very top corner.
It was a goal worthy of winning any game and it did just that to move City up a place to fifth in the U21 Premier League, behind Southampton on goal difference.
