Man City 2-0 Napoli: Citizens dominate with man advantage | OneFootball

The evening of Manchester City-Napoli has arrived. An important match, not only for the caliber of the opponent, but for the return to the Champions League, after a year of absence. The anthem is always exciting to listen to, even if tonight we won't be at Maradona, but the Azzurri fans will find a way to make themselves heard anyway. A different Napoli, compared to the one that three seasons ago made Europe tremble by dominating against Liverpool and Ajax. A Napoli that wants to do well, and prove that it can have its say, even outside the Italian context. A Napoli that wants to prove it can compete with the biggest in football.

READ AGAIN LIVE- Manchester City-Napoli 2-0: the Citizens dominate in numerical superiority

OFFICIAL FORMATIONS

MANCHESTER CITY (4-1-4-1): Donnarumma; Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Rodri; Bernardo Silva, Reijnders, Foden, Doku; Haaland. Available: Trafford, Bettinelli, Akè, Nico Gonzalez, Savinho, Matheus Nunes, Bobb, Mukasa, Lewis, Mfuni Coach: Josep Guardiola

NAPOLI (4-4-1-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Buongiorno, Spinazzola; Politano, Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; De Bruyne; Hojlund. Available: Meret, Ferrante, Gutierrez, Juan Jesus, Gilmour, Neres, Olivera, Elmas, Vergara, Lucca, Ambrosino, Lang. Coach: Antonio Conte

First Half

1′ Started!!

4′ The first conclusion of the match is by Stones: the English defender tries a shot from distance after a prolonged possession by Guardiola's boys. The ball ends up off target

9′ Study phase of the two teams. A lot of ball possession by City, but Napoli so far is very attentive

9′ First corner kick of the match for City

9′ Doku finds the ball at his feet following the corner. Poor control and he fails to shoot cleanly, the Azzurri defense clears the threat

15′ Doku's burst looking for the cross in the middle, Politano with his foot puts it in the corner. The Belgian is the most inspired of his so far

16′ Corner kick for Napoli

17′ Beukema heads and finds Donnarumma's super response. The referee, however, stops everything and whistles for an offensive foul by the Dutchman

19′ Di Lorenzo-Haaland contrast. The Norwegian ends up on the ground and the English call for a foul, but the referee lets play continue

20′ NAPOLI RED CARD! The referee goes to review the incident at VAR. Di Lorenzo doesn't get the ball but only Haaland. The referee has no choice but to send off the Azzurri captain

21′ Reijnders' free-kick ends on Lobotka's back which deflects it into the corner

23′ HAALAND! Great cross from the left, the Norwegian rises with his head: ball just over the crossbar

26′ Change in Napoli: Kevin De Bruyne, acclaimed, leaves the field. Olivera takes his place, who will take Di Lorenzo's place

30′ Another corner kick for City

31′ Foden's low shot, strong but central. Milinkovic blocks on the ground

33′ great control by Politano who tries to advance on the wing. In the end he earns a good corner kick

36′ Ruben Dias looks for Haaland's cut on the far post, behind Beukema. The Norwegian just misses the ball with a scissor kick

38′ Great response from Milinkovic to Rodri's conclusion. The referee stops everything for Doku's offside position

40′ Poor control by Reijnders in the penalty area. Beukema takes advantage and lifts the ball into the corner

41′ MILINKOVIC: great response from the Serbian goalkeeper to O’Reilly's header

41′ AGAIN MILINKOVIC: the former Torino player outdoes himself again, this time with a low save on Bernardo's header

42′ City siege. Now it's Gvardiol trying to finish. Ball just wide

45′ Foden's cross into the box: Reijnders tries to surprise Milinkovic with a backward header. Ball on the top of the net

There will be 4 minutes of recovery

47′ POLITANO! A TACKLE WORTH A GOAL! On the low shot in the box by a City player, the number 21 Azzurri intervenes in a slide, preventing the ball from ending up in the net. He risks an own goal but Milinkovic is very reactive to embrace the ball

48′ Haaland close to the lead! Following a free kick, caused by Politano, the Norwegian in the box tries the winning deflection. Ball a span from the post

Double whistle! We go to the locker rooms with a score of 0-0! The Azzurri suffer with one man less but manage, so far, to contain City's attempts

Second Half

46′ We start again!

49′ Doku finds Reinders in the center of the box. The Dutchman, surrounded by Napoli players, tries to finish but finds Beukema's excellent closure in the corner

51′ FODEN! Again Doku, very inspired, to find the number 47 in the box. Similar position to that of Reijndes, but this time he doesn't find the goal, shooting wide

53′ Yellow card for Politano, who stops a Citizens' restart

55′ Change for Napoli: Juan Jesus in, Politano out, booked

56′ 1-0 MANCHESTER CITY! HAALAND! Beautiful ball by Foden, who serves a treat on Haaland's head in the box, which the Norwegian puts in the goal with a sort of lob. Nothing to do for Milinkovic

60′ Change for City: Rodri out, Nico Gonzalez in

63′ Good job by Lobotka containing Doku in the box. Corner kick for City

65′ 2-0 CITY! JEREMY DOKU! Unstoppable tonight the Belgian, who takes the ball at the edge of the box, avoids the Azzurri defenders with a slalom and beats Milinkovic coming out

67′ City change: Doku out, Savinho in

70′ Azzurri completely at the mercy of City. Another corner kick for the English

71′ Triple change Napoli: Hojlund, Anguissa and Lobotka out. Gilmour, Neres and Elmas in

79′ Triple change for City: Ake, Lewis and Bobb in, Reijnders, Gvardiol and Haaland out

89′ One-way match from the 20′ onwards. Few flashes from the Azzurri, exhausted after Politano's exit

There will be two minutes of recovery

Final whistle! City-Napoli 2-0. The expulsion at the 20′ of Di Lorenzo condemns the partenopei to their first defeat in the Champions League. Manchester City is too much for Conte's boys who fail to react to the numerical inferiority

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.